


The return of Xena

by corligno



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/F, Other, xena - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 93,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24092347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corligno/pseuds/corligno
Summary: The return of Xena.After Xena's death, Gabrielle is devastated, and she wanders around being a well known story-teller/bard. When a wise old man called Erastus befriends her, he gives Gabrielle a marvelous idea: to write down and tell people stories she never told before. Untold adventures with Xena. And so she does. HOWEVER, as she goes on telling the stories, a bigger plan starts to unfold... And Gabrielle realizes, with the help of some friends, that... Xena could be brought back to life.
Relationships: Gabrielle/Xena
Comments: 16
Kudos: 21





	1. Episode 01 - Untold stories

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Please read this initial note!
> 
> How are y'all doing? Those are hard times, I know... That's why I thought we all could use some light!
> 
> It took me almost a year to write this. It is a sequel to "Xena, the warrior princess". I wrote it as if it's a "script", although I know that's not entirely right. 
> 
> Suddenly I lack words! I apologize. This is basically the work of my life and I am exposing it to all of you! I'm truly nervous. I really hope you'll like it. Please, feel free to comment. 
> 
> Each chapter corresponds to one episode. I wrote ten episodes in total. 
> 
> Oh! English isn't my first language, so beforehand I would like to apologize for eventual mistakes - mainly because I didn't read-proof it. 
> 
> And I'd like to thank my girlfriend for her constant support! Thank you, baby! 
> 
> Let's also pretend Hercules didn't get ALL the cool myths ;)
> 
> That's it! Enjoy!!!!!!
> 
> ~corligno
> 
> ALALALALALALALALALXAAAAYAAAAAA

**EPISODE #1, “** **UNTOLD STORIES** **”.**

“I sing of Xena, the warrior princess, who fought not only for the helpless, but also for her soul…”

As Gabrielle says that, there is smoke, incense smoke, forming circles and images against a pitch-black background. A song can be heard, a feminine chant, mysterious, with some eventual drums.

“Since her redemption, all she did was to wander around, protecting people who couldn’t protect themselves…”

The smoke begins to form the silhouette of Xena fighting with her sword and throwing her chakram on enemies, war cries and battle sounds can be heard far away, fading off, and the smoke gets sparkles and small fires when the swords or chakram collide. 

“She defeated gods, creatures, monsters, giants… She traveled far, far away and met with challenges one barely could believe were real…”

Again, the smoke takes shape of her enemies: the giants, the Valkyries on her flying horses, the Destroyer, Alti, Bacchus etc.

“Xena saved countless lives… she saved countless _souls_ , in exchange for her own…”

The incense smoke takes form of Xena and Gabrielle watching the sunrise, just like the last episode “A Friend in Need pt. 2”. But Xena’s image, formed by the smoke, fades away, exactly like she herself did when she was gone.

“And… for some reason… she let me tag along with her”

The smoke disappears, and there’s only Gabrielle’s voice, heavy with feelings she refused to bury.

“She taught me her moves; she taught me how to look at life…”

It comes back, the smoke, and it now forms scenes of Xena and Gabrielle together, walking side by side, sitting by the fire and talking, practicing fight movements, swimming at a lake together, hugging. One image appears, and it’s the scene of when Xena asks Gabrielle to scratch her nose when she was captured by the Green Dragon, and when Gabrielle cries.

“She taught me more than I can bring to words…”

Silence and darkness. Only darkness.

“And now she is gone. She’s gone forever”

Another moment of silence.

“Where did she go?”, a masculine voice asks.

Then the whole scene appears: Gabrielle is sitting on a chair, on a tavern, surrounded by people who are listening to her stories, like she’s a known bard, like that is the path she followed, even though the chakram is visible on her waist. She looks at the man who asked that question, and her eyes are sad, but empty. Empty as if she already cried all her tears and there’s not one left.

“She died in Jappa”, she answers.

“And where’s her body?”, a girl asks.

Gabrielle looks at her and takes some seconds before answering.

“It’s ashes… I spread them… in Amphipolis”

Everyone is silent. They all look at her like they can see her suffering. Then a man raises his mug of beer and says: “To Xena”

In addition, everyone else does the same, in a toast, honoring her, and drink.

Gabrielle raises her own mug, whispers a “to Xena”, and drinks herself.

***

Gabrielle is readying her horse under the moonlight. She ties her backpack to the horse’s saddle, opens it and grabs from inside the urn with Xena’s ashes. Her sad eyes look at it, examine it.

“I’m sorry, Xena”, she says with a broken voice. “I’m sorry I lied, and I’m sorry I can’t bring myself to spread your ashes. You must be angry with me for not letting you rest in peace, for going from village to village telling stories instead of helping people, like we used to do. But… tell me… how can I help other people if I can’t help myself?”

She waits for an answer and drops a tired tear, but no answer comes.

“I know what you would say. That I can help myself **_by_ ** helping other people, the way you did. Except… I don’t have the energy, the strength… It feels like everything was taken from me when you died”

Gabrielle is sad and devastated.

“I can’t feel your presence anymore”

“Sometimes they don’t come back”, a man’s voice says, startling Gabrielle, who looks to the side and see an old man with a staff, staring at her with bright eyes.

“Excuse me?”, Gabrielle asks.

“I lost someone too… One day they went away and never came back”

Gabrielle understands. Her face goes from confusion to complacency and she nods slowly.

“I’m sorry for your loss”, she says and cleans her tears with the back of her hands, a little embarrassed.

“I’m sorry for yours. Someone you loved”

“Someone I loved the most… and never got the chance to… tell her that countless times”

“She knows”, the man says. “Now she knows”

Gabrielle sighs and her tears come back.

“How am I supposed to cope with this? I am still trying to figure out what to do with my life, I’m still… wandering around, waiting for her to come back to me so we can go back to normal…”

The man approaches and offers Gabrielle a hug, which she accepts and wraps her arms around him tightly. She desperately needs that.

“There, there”

“How… how did **_you_ ** cope with your loss? How did you move on?”

“I didn’t”, he answered. “But I learned that when I honored their memory, I felt better. I, like you, was a storyteller, and I learned that the best way to honor someone’s memory is to tell his or her doings. They inspire people, they help them”

The blonde woman lifts her head to look at the man with curiosity.

“That’s what I have been doing”, she tells him.

“Not quite”, he says, mysterious. “I bet you are holding back some stories. Some stories that are too personal for you to tell, or that have a hidden meaning that not even you know, or that you simply forgot to write about”

Gabrielle lets go of the man and looks down to think with herself. Then a realization comes to her.

“You’re right”, she looks at him with a little bit of hope in her eyes for the first time in a long time. “I haven’t… I haven’t written some of our adventures together for… different reasons”

“You don’t need to think of the reasons, my girl”, he says and cups her face gently with his hand. “You just need to write the stories down. You just need to remember them. Write them while they are fresh… and if, and only if, you feel the need of sharing, you do so. You’ll see how much better you’ll feel”

Gabrielle even smiles a little, because the old man is smiling at her, and it comforts her.

“Who are you?”, she asks.

“My name is Erastus”

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Gabrielle”, she offers him a hand, which he takes and gently shakes.

“I know”, he smiles at her. “I was at the tavern earlier. You have a gift, Gabrielle. I know Xena is proud of you”

She smiles and looks at the stars for some moments.

***

Gabrielle is in her sleeping clothes, on her bed, and she has a scroll opened across her lap. The writing feather is filled with black ink as she thinks of what to write. Gently, she scratches the papyrus with the tip of the feather, and writes the title of the story she’s about to write (in greek): “The healing rod”. In addition, she goes on writing for the night.

***

The sun rises, the birds sing, the village starts to wake up and function like any other labor day. Gabrielle is walking around at a fair, choosing some apples and putting them inside a nice basket that she has hanging from her arm. She notices some people whispering about her. Some kids get together on a corner and point at her, talking among themselves. Other villagers do the same. She finds it weird, but remains calm, grocery shopping.

It isn’t until she reaches the peaches and the grapes that she finally asks the lady who’s selling them:

“Hi, I’m sorry, but why is everyone pointing at me and obviously **_talking_ ** about me?”

“Can be many things, young woman”, she answers. “Can be this round weapon on your waist, or the fact that everyone is wondering when it will be the next time you’ll tell more stories at the tavern. Two dinars”

“What?”, Gabrielle is surprised.

“Two dinars”, the lady repeats out loud.

“Of course, of course, but…”, the bard takes two small coins and places them on the open palm of the woman. “People want to hear my stories?”

“Are you kiddin’? My little girl is not even ten and all she talks about is the deeds of Xena and Gabrielle. She can’t believe you are here, it’s the Elysium Fields for her”

Gabrielle is taken aback by that.

“She sounds like a sweet girl. What’s her name?”

“Marian. Oh, look, there she is”, the woman gestures with her head and Gabrielle turns around to see a lovely girl running to her direction.

The girl stops in front of her and admires her with all her being.

“Hi, Marian”, Gabrielle smiles at her. “Your mom told me you like my stories”

“Yes! I read every copy of your scrolls I could reach!”, the girl answers.

“Costed us a couple days without fish, but she says it’s worth it”, the fruit seller woman says.

“Will you tell us more stories tonight? Please? Please, Gabrielle?”, Marian grabs her skirt.

The bard fills her heart fill with a feeling she hasn’t felt in such a long time ago. Hope.

“I will. In fact, I have just finished writing a new, fresh scroll with a new adventure”

The girl’s eyes get big with happiness. She hugs Gabrielle and the bard hugs her back.

“Thank you, thank you. You’re the best bard in the world”

Marian runs away, leaving a very hopeful Gabrielle behind her. She stares at the figure of the little girl disappearing in the middle of the crowd and sighs.

“Maybe this isn’t the end of the world, after all”, she says to herself.

***

It’s night time, and the tavern is full of people. Gabrielle is sitting on a chair, facing all of them, and they organized their own chairs in a way that they’re all facing her too. They are eager to listen to her, to hear more of her stories. She clearly captivated that audience more intensely than usual.

“Tonight I’ll tell you an untold story”, she begins. Marian there in the audience is smiling big. “It was in the very beginning of my life beside Xena. We were walking – or, well, **_I_ ** was walking, she was riding her horse, because in that time she literally didn’t let me get close to her horse, Argo. Back then, I thought she liked her more than me”

Some people giggle alongside with her.

***

Xena is riding her horse and Gabrielle is walking beside them, she carries a walking stick which extremity she sharpened with a rock. It is a sunny day and the grass is green. They’re walking a poorly made path.

“I mean, it’s both a weapon **_and_ **a fishing spear”, Gabrielle says. “You just have to aim… but you have to aim a little bit down the fish, because you know, refraction”, she pretends she’s aiming for a fish in front of her. “And then… HA!!!”, she spearheads the air and trembles, like she just speared a fish, is struggling and it’s moving and it’s heavy. “YOU GOT IT! YOU GOT A BIG ONE!”

Xena just observes her with an amused expression and her hand on her hip.

“You’ll get hurt with that thing”, Xena says.

“I’m not a child, Xena”, Gabrielle stops the playful theatre and looks at her companion. “For your information, I **_have_ ** fished like this before, and it works wonders. Sometimes you can change the conventional methods, did you know that?”

“And some other times the conventional methods are the only thing that actually works”, Xena responds with her arrogant face.

Gabrielle narrows her eyes and shakes her head, giving up on the answer she had prepared inside her head.

“Anyway, it helps me walking too”, the blonde girl continues. “With the ground being full of stones and jumping roots, it’s good to have something that can punch a hole in the soil and help you walk. Unless you have a horse, of course…”

“Gabrielle”, Xena raises an eyebrow at her. “Would you like to join me on Argo?”

Gabrielle smiles at her.

“Well if you insist…”

Moreover, she grabs the hand Xena offers, but before she can push herself with her foot in the stirrup, a movement takes place around them in the forest. Some people are running away, running from something. Villagers. Xena and Gabrielle look around, surprised and confused.

“What is happening here?”, Xena asks with a loud voice, but no one stops to answer her.

Getting annoyed, Xena jumps from her horse doing some backflips and letting out her battle cry just for the adrenaline, and lands on her feet right on front of a man that looks at her, scared for his life.

He tries to dodge her, but she grabs his shoulders in the middle of all that mess and yells:

“ ** _WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?_ **”

“The-the king! He went mad!”, the man manages to answer.

“Give us some real information here”, Gabrielle joins them as she tries to dodge from the crazy people running.

“His treasure was stolen in the river and, and he said he’ll kill everyone unless it’s brought back to him!”

“This is crazy, he can’t do that”, Gabrielle argues.

“Well, I don’t want to stay at the village and find out!”, the man succeeds on escaping from Xena’s hold and resumes his running along with the rest of the villagers.

The forest goes calm when all the people finish passing through.

“Looks like this king really lost his mind”, says Gabrielle.

“If he keeps acting like that, there will be no one left for him to ‘kill’ until his treasure is returned”, Xena sighs, still analyzing the happening. “Let’s go”

***INTRO PLAYS***

It is the palace hall. The old king is sitting on his throne, scratching his head, looking completely nervous.

A guard enters and approaches, his footsteps sounds awaken the king, who quickly lifts his head to look at him.

“ ** _Did you find it?_ **”, he asks. “Did you find my treasure?”, he is desperate.

“I am sorry to say that we did not, my king”, the guard answers and bows. “But the villagers are running away. They fear for their lives”

“Then what are you still doing here? Bring them all back! Throw them all in the dungeons! **_LOCK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!_** ”, the king rises from his throne to yell those words, and in the second after he is stricken by a coughing attack that makes him retreat and take back his seat. He covers his mouth with a white napkin he already had in hand.

“Yes, my king”, the guard reverences the king, turns around and leaves.

“Throwing your own people at the dungeons won’t make you find your treasure any faster, king Timor”, Xena’s voice appears out of nowhere, and suddenly she steps into the light, coming from the-gods-know-where, followed by a faithful Gabrielle and her rustic spear.

Everyone in the hall is surprised to see them, and the guards immediately run to the two women with their swords pointed at their throats.

“It will only make you be the target of their hatred and wrath”, the warrior princess goes on saying, never minding the sharp blades almost touching her skin.

“And who are **_you_**? How dare you enter my castle without invitation?”, king Timor asks, too weak to stand.

“My name is Xena, and I’m here to help”

“Xena?”, the guards exchange looks between themselves and the king finally stands up.

“ ** _Xena_ **, the destroyer of nations?”, Timor asks.

“She goes by ‘warrior princess’ nowadays”, Gabrielle interjects, and she looks at Xena, who throws her a corner smile.

“You… You want the treasure for yourself! **_GUARDS! ARREST HER!_** ”, the king screams.

Xena sighs.

“And here I was, hoping we could solve this without any violence”, she says and shrugs. “I guess I was wrong”

With her war cry, Xena squats and does a circular sweep kick, bringing down all the guards that surrounded herself and Gabrielle. The blonde woman grabs a hold of her spear and is ready to fight, even though she has no experience whatsoever. However, even before the guards get up to their feet, Xena pushes Gabrielle very strongly by her shoulder, making her trip and fall on a fancy divan in the corner, and there she stays, upset and annoyed that Xena doesn’t let her be a part of the fight.

In the meantime, Xena draws her sword and fights every guard that comes on to her; she kicks and slays, and bangs their helmets together. She jumps and screams, and does acrobatic moves that leave everyone impressed. By the end, all the half dozen guards are on the floor, passed out.

King Timor is scared, hiding behind his throne like a child.

“I wonder if **_now_ ** we can talk like civilized people”, Xena sheats her sword and walks slowly towards him.

“Y-yes… yes… you said… you said you came here to help?”, the king pops his head to peek at the women.

Gabrielle at this point stands beside Xena, angry at her, but still there by her side.

“I came here to find out **_why_ ** a king would lose his head over a treasure he can easily replace within one or two years of tributes”, the warrior princess crosses her arms when she is close enough. “Unless, of course… There’s something **_valuable_ ** among it”

“Everything is valuable, child, that’s why it’s called **_a treasure_** ”, king Timor shoots her a nervous look, pull himself together, adjusts his crown on his head and stands in front of his throne, seeming much more courageous now facing Xena.

Gabrielle covers her mouth trying to hold back her laughter; she finds the king’s answer fun, but Xena gives her a look that makes her immediately become an expert at hiding her laugh.

“You know what I mean, Timor”, Xena decides to abandon formalities. “Something that has an emotional value for you, or something that many men wish to possess”

Before the king can answer, he starts coughing again, so badly that he allows himself to fall back to his throne. Covering his mouth with the white napkin, he coughs a sick cough, a deep one. In addition, when he looks at his napkin once the cough attack is gone, it is covered in blood. He sighs, and Xena and Gabrielle exchange a look.

“No, nothing”, Timor responds. “I just… I have a debt with the neighbor kingdom and have to pay them as soon as possible. Even if it takes sending my entire army after the treasure”

“That won’t be necessary”, Xena narrows her eyes at him. “I will find your treasure if you cancel the order to capture your villagers and kill them”

“And if you allow us to take a royal bath”, Gabrielle pops in.

“ _ **W**_ ** _hat?_ **”, Xena looks at her with her brows furrowed.

Gabrielle comes closer to whisper to Xena:

“We haven’t taken a decent shower in **_days_** … The mud is becoming my second skin. Please, Xena, I need warm water”

Xena sighs and gives in.

“Alright”, she says. “ ** _And_ ** a royal bath”

The king examines both of them with careful and suspicious eyes.

“Why should I believe you’ll succeed where my guards have failed?”, he asks.

“Well…”, Xena simply reaches out her hand to point at the guards that are still passed out on the floor. “I think I made my point here”

It’s the king’s turn to sigh.

“Very well. You shall have your bath and whatever else you need to recover my treasure. I’ll even reward you with some hundreds dinars. Now where is my medicine? **_Where is my bloody medicine?!_** ”

“Here, my king”, an equally old man, dressed in fancy robes and sandals, approaches quickly, and he has a very small glass jar with a spoon inside. He dives the spoon in the white liquid and bring it to the king’s mouth.

“Off you go now to your bath”, the king motions for the women to go. “My counselor will lead the way and provide you with anything you need”

A younger man, this time, also dressed in a fancy robe, gestures for them to follow him, and they do.

***

The two women follow the man through the corridors of the castle.

“So, what can you tell me about this theft?”, Xena asks the counselor.

“It happened in the river that comes from the North”, the man begins. “King Timor sent the guards on a boat with his treasure to bargain with one of the other kingdoms; he wanted to purchase a… **_merchandise_** … And during the night of the return, another boat approached, and bandits with masks stole the treasure”

“Bandits with masks?”, Gabrielle jumps in. “Were they heavily armed?”

“I don’t know the details. You’ll have to talk to the guards themselves”, the counselor responds, completely uninterested.

“What merchandise was that?”, Xena asks.

“Like I said, I don’t know the details”, he turns to look at Xena and reaches out a hand to point to a chamber. “Your royal bath awaits”

Then he turns around and simply walks away.

“He couldn’t care less, could he?”, Gabrielle asks and enters the room.

“I guess he couldn’t”, says Xena as she follows the blonde, not without shooting the silhouette of the counselor one more suspicious look, and she closes the door.

“It’s so weird, this ‘sick king’ thing”, Gabrielle goes on rambling as she slowly undresses. “First king Sisyphus, and now king Timor. What is it with sick, dying kings?”

The chamber is big and round, and has a round pool, that is a bath, filled with warm water and bubbles. Everything is fancy and filled with royal scents, candles and torches.

“I don’t know, but I think it has something to do with this lost treasure of his”, Xena answers as she undresses herself.

The warrior princess takes off her leather and Gabrielle sees her naked for the first time.

***

“And it was the first thing I saw her… fully nude… and I realized, like I had so many times before that, that she was the **_most beautiful_ ** woman I had ever seen in my life”, Gabrielle is telling the story to the people on the tavern, and her eyes are lost somewhere in front of her, as if she’s seeing the image right there, at some invisible point for everyone else.

“ ** _Ah-ham_ ** ”, someone clears his or her throat, and Gabrielle breaks out of her trance to notice it was Marian’s mother, the fruit vendor, who did that. “There are… **_children_** … here”, she says.

“Oh, right, of course, I’m sorry”, the blonde-haired woman shakes her head, closes her eyes deep shut, and tries to focus on the continuation of the events.

***

“What? Why?”, Gabrielle asks Xena, fighting against her every impulse not to stare as the dark-haired woman goes down the steps of the pool and submerges, feeling the warm water caress her skin.

“Come inside and I’ll tell you”, Xena smiles provocatively at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle finishes taking off her clothes and enters the bath. It’s a relief for her, and she dives in too, scratching her body with the warm water and the bubbles.

“Sisyphus was willing to let dying people suffer for eternity only to save himself”, Xena says in a serious tone. “Timor is willing to kill his own people to retrieve the treasure. I think there’s something in that treasure, something that he needs”

“So you don’t believe he is in debt with another neighbor kingdom?”, Gabrielle asks.

“Not for one second. This man is hiding something, and you will find out what”

“What? Me?”, Gabrielle raises her eyebrows.

“Yes. Stay here in the castle and find out what you can about the king Timor. I’ll go to the river and check things out there”

“You’ll go to the river?”, Gabrielle keeps only one eyebrow raised this time. “You know that boats don’t leave **_tracks_** , don’t you?”

“You know, Gabrielle”, Xena starts saying and she takes a soap that she finds and begins to rub it against herself, her arms and chest. “Even though I appreciate you being cheeky today, I know they don’t. **_Nevertheless_** , there are three docks in this river and I want to verify the movements of the boats. The departures and the arrivals”

“The counselor said that the bandits were using masks…”

“Yes, this story isn’t very well told. That’s why after this bath I’ll talk to the guards and find out what I can. Here, take the soap”, Xena throws Gabrielle the soap, who has a hard time grabbing it because it’s so slippery, and Xena laughs.

***

Xena is talking to one of the guards that watch the outside of the main gates.

“So you were on the boat when the treasure was stolen”, she affirms, and he nods.

“Yes”

“And did you see the bandits?”

“They were using masks”

“Fine, but how **_were_ ** they? Can you find a way to describe them?”, Xena insists.

The man rolls his eyes and looks at her. First, he is annoyed, but then he seems a little embarrassed.

“Their masks were… badly done, probably made of potatoes sack. They were not big, but they had blowpipes with some kind of somniferous and they hit me. I fell down sleeping like a baby”

“I see”, Xena lifts one eyebrow. “And you were the only one who saw them because you were keeping watch while everyone else slept”

“Exactly”

“Hmmm”, Xena nods slowly. “Why were you transporting **_the whole_ ** treasure anyway?”

“We were making an exchange, a payment. King Timor paid half of his treasure for some weird rod, but he ordered us to bring the whole treasure in case the other kingdom would demand more gold”

“He was willing to give **_everything_ ** he has for this rod?”, Xena gets impressed.

“Yeah”, the man says. “Kings are odd. I guess they collect some strange stuff like that, you know?”

“Did you see the rod?”

“No, it was carefully wrapped, and we put it inside the chest with the remaining half of the gold”

“Right, thanks”, and Xena leaves.

***

Gabrielle walks around the castle with her “spear”/staff in one of her hands, even though she doesn’t need it. She observes the movements of the castle, the guards, and the counselor talking to the doctor. She finally decides to approach and talk to them.

“Hello”, she says with a polite smile. “You’re the healer, right? The doctor?”

The older man with good eyes smiles back and nods.

“Yes, my name is Agapios”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Gabrielle”, she reaches out her hand, and the healer takes it and shakes it slowly.

“Likewise”

The counselor keeps his closed face, turns around and walks away.

“That guy really doesn’t like me”, she says, unimpressed.

“He doesn’t like anyone, please don’t mind him”, Agapios responds.

“You’re a kind man. Would you show me the gardens? I love seeing the different types of flowers and plants that only exotic castles like this one have”

“Absolutely, come with me”, he offers her an arm and she gladly accepts. They go on walking towards the garden.

“I can see that the king is very ill”, she speaks.

“Oh, yes, sadly he has a condition”

They reach the beautiful garden with flowers and plants, fountains and the sun.

“What condition is that?”, Gabrielle insists.

“He has a lung disease… there’s nothing I can do for him but to ease his pain”

Gabrielle finds herself pitying the king.

“And what about his family?”, she asks.

The healer sighs.

“He has no one. His wife died ten years ago, no children, no relatives, no… **_nothing_** ”

“Oh…”, Gabrielle looks to the ground as she thinks. “At least he has you”

Agapios smiles.

“That’s true. I try to make him comfortable”

“What is it that you give him? The medicine?”, she looks at him.

“Oh, that’s just… that’s… chamomile tea”, his answer is not very certain, sounds like he just made it up and Gabrielle notices it immediately.

***

Xena is riding her horse Argo towards the first dock. It’s just a wooden pier with a couple of rustic boats floating around it, tied by old ropes. There’s a man sitting behind a sodden and nailed-up desk, smoking some kind of ancient pipe. The warrior gets off her horse and gets close to him.

“What can I do for you, beauty?”, the man smiles at her with his black teeth, exhaling smoke.

Xena smiles at him, but it’s a smirk more than anything else.

“I’m just wondering if anyone arrived or departed last night using one of your boats here”, she puts one foot on top of the side of the boat, which swings on the dark water.

“And what would I get if I gave you this information?”, the man inhales from his pipe again and exhales smoke.

The dark-haired woman approaches his desk, places her fists on it and looks at him, smiling big.

“I don’t know about what you’d get, but I know what you **_wouldn’t_ ** get, and that is a broken finger”, she says.

The man laughs and she chuckles along.

“I’d let you break my finger any time if that means I’ll get to finger you”, he leans forward.

Just as he does that, Xena grabs hold of his middle finger with her entire hand, and twists it down, making the man scream in pain.

“ ** _No, stop! You bitch! Don’t!_** ”, he yells.

“Now why don’t you be a nice boy and tell me if anyone rented one of your boats last night?”

She has him, and she won’t let go. The man can’t move himself, he’s too worried any move would trigger Xena breaking his finger.

“No one rented my boats last night!”, he says.

“Are you telling me the truth?”, Xena forces his finger a little bit more.

“ ** _YES!!_ ** Please, let go of my finger, no one has rented my boats in **_days_**!!!”

Xena lets go of his finger as he retreats to look at the damage she has done, and she eyes his boats.

“I can see why no one would rent those”, she says, and walks back to her horse.

“ ** _BITCH!_ **”, the man screams behind her, and she couldn’t care less.

Xena hops on her horse and with a “YA!” turns around and heads to the other dock.

***

Back in the palace, Gabrielle sneaks in Agapios’ chambers. She easily finds which one is his because of the healers’ symbol carved on the door. She walks around and goes through all of his things, being extremely careful not to make any mess. Finally, after much searching, she finds the little glass of medicine that Agapios gives the king. She opens it and smells it.

“Chamomile… right… if this is chamomile, I’m redheaded”, she speaks to herself.

She hears some noise outside, so quickly she takes a napkin and pours some drops of the white liquid on it. Gabrielle hides the napkin inside her tank top and leaves the chamber without being seen.

After that, she walks more around the corridors, says hi to the guards, and steps down the stairs to get to the dungeons. She finds an empty cell.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this…”

She looks around and finds what she’s looking for: a rat.

“I’m so sorry…”, she approaches the rat and hands over the napkin to it. Gabrielle drops the napkin to the floor and watches as the rat walks to it and licks it. “I **_really_ ** hope this is chamomile tea”

Gabrielle gets up and walks away, seeming nervous and disgusted. When she finishes climbing up the stairs from the empty dungeons, she is greeted by no other than the king Timor himself.

“Oh, it’s you”, he says, and looks at her from head to toe. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah I was just…”, Gabrielle looks down the stairs, and then back at him. “Looking around”

“Won’t you help Xena finding my treasure?”, the king asks, and starts walking.

Gabrielle hurries up and follows him.

“I… I am helping”, she answers.

“By staying here and **_‘looking around’_ **? Doesn’t seem much like helping to me”

“Well, that is the only way I can help Xena right now”, Gabrielle speaks. “Sometimes she prefers to handle things on her own”

“Why do I have the feeling that ‘sometimes’ means ‘always’?”, the king asks very arrogantly as he walks.

Gabrielle shrugs feeling uncomfortable.

“I… have my own way of helping her…”

“I’m sure you do, little girl. I’m sure you do”

“I mean… Just because I am not a **_warrior_ ** like her, it doesn’t mean I can’t help”, she keeps on saying and walking beside the king. “I can cook, I can do what she asks me to do, I can **_fish_ **”, she grabs her spear proudly. “I can tell stories; I can sing sometimes, I can come up with ideas…”

“So basically you’re her **_wife_** ”, the king blurts.

He stops and looks at her. She gets red, her eyes are wide open and she doesn’t know what to respond.

“No…”, she says.

“I miss my wife. She was a good woman”, then he stops by a door, and Gabrielle notices they’re in front of his own chambers. “Sometimes I’d go hunting and she stayed, embroidering little towels. How I wish she’d go hunting with me instead of doing that lame housework that she didn’t even love”

He enters his bedchambers and leaves a very contemplative Gabrielle behind.

***

Xena is walking, holding the reins of her horse as it walks behind her. She approaches another dock, a bigger one this time, with four or five reasonable sized boats tied to the pier. There’s an old man there with a very long beard complaining with himself as he leans over one of the boats that is completely botched and damaged.

“ ** _Freaking bandits…_ **”, he grumbles. “Y’all gonna rot in Tartarus and eat your own legs”

“Excuse me”, Xena says and startles the old man, who turns to her with an angry look. “I didn’t mean to scare you; I just want to ask some questions”

“Oh, you just want to ask some questions, don’t you?”, the man walks to her and spits on the floor something he was chewing. “I want to ask some questions too, such as ‘who stole one of my boats and left it all blemished on the other river bank’, or ‘who is going to pay for that’?”

The old man puts his arms on his hips and looks at Xena as if she’s the one responsible for all that.

“I was going to ask you those very same questions”, she says. “You said it was on the other side of the river?”

“Yeah, yeah”, the man gestures with his hand, indicating the location. “About two hundred steps to the right. You gonna get ‘em, won’t you? You gonna get the bandits?”

“I sure am. But I need to cross the river”, she looks at him.

“Well you can have this broken boat. It’s ugly, but at least works”

“Thanks”, she jumps on the boat, gets the paddles and starts paddling to the other side.

Xena reaches the other side and walks around looking for tracks. After a few moments, she finds them. She finds some footprints.

“Got you”, she says to herself with an evil smile playing on her lips.

After that, the warrior princess follow the footprints and the tracks on the grass all the way inside the forest.

***

After walking for quite some time, Xena comes across a cave. Branches and leaves hide it, but she can clearly see. She quietly and slowly enters, without being noticed. She can hear some voices, voices by teenagers.

“We need to give it back”, one voice says, it’s male and belongs to a boy of fifteen years old or so.

“No, we don’t! The king is bluffing, he won’t kill his own people!”, another male voice responds.

“But the people are running away, they’re scared… We need to give the treasure back, Laitus”

“Listen, we are homeless because of the king. People are **_starving_ ** because of him! If he doesn’t know how to rule, **_we_ ** do. With all this gold, we can create a kingdom of our own!”, Laitus says.

Xena gets close enough to see a group of four teenagers and two kids, one of them being a little girl that plays with one of the potato sack mask. She also spots the ROD leaning against the rocky wall of the cave. It is a simple wooden rod with a unique design: it is a serpent-entwined rod. Immediately, Xena recognizes the rod, as she speaks to herself, impressed:

“ ** _The rod of Asclepius_ **”

“And how are we going to do that? We are just kids”, another boy says.

Laitus breathes heavily.

“Alright… Listen, I’m scared too”, he says. “I don’t know how we can return the treasure without being killed. I know we made a mistake… We couldn’t have guessed the king would freak out like this. It’s just **_gold_ **, kings have plenty of gold”

“I have a solution for you”, Xena finally reveals herself.

She scares the little boys, who quickly grab their blowpipes and point at her. She lifts her hands in peace.

“I am not here to hurt you. I am here to help”, she says.

“How… how did you find us?”, Laitus asks, he is clearly the leader.

“I followed your footsteps in the forest from the river. Now, put the blowpipes down and we can talk”

The boys look to each other and finally decide to do so.

“Are you going to deliver us to the king?”, the youngest boy asks.

“No, I won’t”, she answers him with a complacent smile. “You boys are right. This king doesn’t know how to rule. He is obsessed with one thing and it is not the gold”

“Is it with that old rod over there?”, one boy points to the rod of Asclepius.

“Yes”, Xena says. “I talked to him. He is going to let you keep the gold, **_as long_ ** as you share it with the people in the village. And as long as I bring the rod back to him”

“Why is the rod so important to him?”, Laitus asks.

Xena shrugs.

“Who knows? Kings are odd. I guess they collect some strange stuff like that, you know?”, she smirks, using the same sentence that the guard told her.

The boys seem to think a little.

“Alright”, Laitus says. “You can take the rod. You won’t tell the king it was us who stole the treasure, will you?”

“My mouth won’t spill a word”, she guarantees.

All of the kids seem relieved and happy. They even start to celebrate a little, and as Xena reaches for the rod, a man’s voice echoes in the cave:

“They’re here!”

A movement is heard; armed men are entering the cave, about five of them, and they’re mercenaries.

“Quick, hide!”, Xena tells the boys, and they take cover behind some rocks.

She draws her sword and is ready for battle. The mercenaries appear, look at her and take their own swords.

“Where is the treasure?”, the leader asks.

“Somewhere you’ll never know”, Xena responds. “Now turn around and leave”

“You think we are stupid?”, the man asks. “We were going to steal the royal boat ourselves, but those kids were faster, so we let them do the job for us. Figured it was easier to just take it from them later. We followed their tracks here. I know they’re here, and I know **_the treasure_ ** is here!”

“There is nothing here for **_you_** ”, Xena answers.

So the fight starts. The men invest against Xena and she defends herself; attacks with her sword, kicks and does flips. She jumps and she screams, and she is actually hit by some blows, some punches and kicks, but that doesn’t stop her. She is smiling and laughing.

Xena throws her chakram and breaks the swords of the men, who now go for their daggers. She kicks one of them and a dagger lands close to Laitus. Seeing this opportunity, the boy grabs the dagger and stands up, revealing himself in an act of bravery but also stupidity.

“He’s armed!”, one of the mercenaries says, and goes after Laitus.

“ ** _Laitus, don’t!_ **”, Xena screams, but it is too late, for she is fighting another man and has no time to defend the boy.

A mercenary stabs Laitus on his chest, and the boy falls down, covered in blood and groaning with sharp pain. The little girl screams:

“Brother!”

Finally, Xena reaches the last mercenary and has no mercy killing him with her sword. They’re all corpses on the floor, and Laitus is dying.

All the boys and the girl gather around Laitus, crying and holding parts of his body to give him reassurance in his final moments.

“Don’t… don’t forget to share the treasure… with the people…”, Laitus says to the second oldest boy, who nods with tears falling from his cheeks.

“Hang in there, Laitus”, Xena says; she quickly grabs the rod of Asclepius and kneels beside the dying boy. “Here, hold this”

“Why?”, the weak boy manages to ask.

“Just hold it”, and Xena puts it against his chest.

The boy has no other option, so he holds it, and a light starts to emanate from the rod, a very clear one, that illuminates the whole cave and almost blinds everyone. They all cover their eyes, even Xena, and when the light is gone, Laitus is healed.

He has no wound, no blood, and no nothing. Even his clothes are clean. He is shook and looks at Xena with astonishment.

“I’m… I’m **_healed!_** ”, he says, and hugs his little sister that jumps on him with happiness. “This rod healed me!”

“Thank the gods it did”, Xena breathes out in relief and grabs back the rod. “This is the rod of Asclepius”

“Asclepius? The son of Apollo?”, one of the boys asks.

“That’s the one”, the woman answers.

“So that’s why the king went crazy when we stole it. The rod of Asclepius… has healing powers”, Laitus speaks. 

“Exactly”, Xena says. “Asclepius was the father of all the healing and the medicine. The king is sick and needs it”

“Do you think the king **_deserves_ **to be cured?”, Laitus asks as he rises up.

“I cannot judge his soul, and neither can you, or any of us. But I **_do_ ** know that when there is a chance for you to help someone, you must”

“Listen to me”, Xena says again, holding the attention of all the boys and the girl. “You can’t tell anyone about this, about this rod. When there’s a thing that men desperately want, they’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Look at your king, he was going to kill his **_own_ ** people to have this rod. Things with such power are not meant to be amongst men”

“Are they made to be amongst women?”, the little girl asks.

Xena smiles at her and the boys giggle.

“I mean they can’t be amongst humans”, the warrior speaks. “Now, you kids go and share the gold. I know you’ll bring much happiness to the villagers”, she looks at Laitus. “And there may even be some gold left for you to start your own kingdom”

The boy smiles at her.

***

Gabrielle sneaks back to the dungeons to check on her rat. She enters slowly the empty cell and there she sees it: the rat is **_dead_**.

“By the gods”, she exclaims with herself. “It’s **_poison_**. Agapios has been poisoning the king!”

When she turns around, shocked with her discovery, she stumbles upon Agapios, the counselor and a guard.

“Seems like you’ve been too nosy for your own good, Gabrielle”, the healer says.

“Xena will stop you!”, she speaks.

“Xena won’t…”, and he stops talking, because he can hear Xena upstairs.

Xena is saying: “King Timor?”

So, Gabrielle takes that opportunity to scream: “ ** _XEEENAAAAA!_ **”

“ ** _Gabrielle?!_ **”, Xena asks.

“Now you just blew it”, Agapios says and sighs. “Bring her upstairs; keep her on your leash”

All four of them climb up the stairs and meet with a very sure of herself Xena holding the rod of Asclepius. The guard has a tight grip Gabrielle close to himself and has his sword against her throat.

“Xena! It’s so good to see that you managed to return the rod of Asclepius for us”, Agapios says. “Now would you mind handing it to me? Otherwise I’ll have your **_friend_ ** here killed”

“ ** _The rod of Asclepius…_ **”, Gabrielle murmurs to herself, having inner realizations.

“I should have known”, Xena says very calmly.

“ ** _What is happening here?!_ **”, king Timor appears from the corridor in his pajamas. He looks ill and finished.

“Agapios has been poisoning you! You’re not sick!”, Gabrielle manages to tell him, and the guard shakes her to make her stop talking.

“What?”, Timor walks closer to Agapios. “I can’t believe this. He’s my most loyal servant, alongside with Val here, my counselor”

“Well, I have some bad news for you, Timor”, Xena speaks and slowly approaches them. “They’re together in this attempt to **_kill_ ** you”

“This cannot be!”, the king screams and starts coughing.

“Oh, but it is”, the counselor says with anger. “Do you really think we like you? You are **_despicable_**. **_I_ ** learned about the rod of Asclepius; I found out that the other kingdom had it and was treating it like some kind of ornament because they did not know of its powers. **_I_ ** convinced Agapios to poison you, and **_I_ **told you about the magical healing rod”

The king is very much surprised.

“Congratulations on the plan”, Xena ironically says, still holding the rod. “But what do you need the rod for?”

“Are you kidding me?”, Val smiles. “I will be a **_god_ **curing people. Look at Timor, he paid half of his treasure to have it. Just imagine how much people would pay for me to cure them”

“Oh, so there’s no altruistic reason behind this whatsoever?”, Gabrielle asks. “No relative dying or brother with rare disease?”

Val looks at her with anger.

“No”

“Got you”

“Now, give me the rod”, Val reaches out his hand, waiting for Xena to place it there.

“Only if you let Gabrielle go first”, she says.

“I’ll let her go as soon as I have the rod”, the man replies.

Xena deliberates a little, exchange looks with the king and Gabrielle, and ends up saying:

“Fine”

She walks towards him and hands him the rod.

Val takes it and examines it with his eyes, as if he is holding the most valuable thing in the world, full of admiration. He, then, snaps his fingers at the guard:

“Let the girl go”

He releases Gabrielle and that’s when she runs to Xena.

“You’re going to let them get away with it?”, she asks.

Xena simply smiles at her.

“I’m not planning on it”, she responds.

With a scream, she jumps, does backflips and lands in front of Val. She kicks him and he falls; the punches the healer on his face and he just falls down, passed out. The guard draws his sword, but he is not a match for Xena. She easily knocks him down.

Val gets up and with a dagger, goes after Gabrielle to kill her, since she is helping the king go through a cough attack. Xena, then, grabs the closest thing: Gabrielle’s spear/fishing spear and throws it at him. It pierces his back all the way to his belly, and he falls to the floor, dead after a few seconds.

“It really **_can_ ** work as a weapon”, Xena tells Gabrielle, who then smiles a little.

“I can’t believe this”, the king says. “The two people I trusted the most…”

“Sucks, doesn’t it?”, Xena says, and sees that Agapios is getting up.

She takes a blowpipe from her waist and blows it at his neck. The little dart makes him fall right back to the ground again, passed out for hours now.

“He has been poisoning me this whole time…”, king Timor looks deliberative. He walks to his throne and sits down, devastated. Gabrielle and Xena share a look and follow him, with Gabrielle holding the rod of Asclepius. “After almost a lifetime of just existing, I realized I’d never have a chance to actually **_live_ ** again… I… I was waiting for a chance to live again and grew old waiting. Since my wife died. I grew… old… waiting to live again. I don’t even know what I was hoping to happen, but I went on, just being, never taking actions. When I learned of my ‘sickness’, what I always feared happened. I would get no other chance to live. All this time that I was waiting was in vain, because I was going to die. I always knew I’d die full of regrets, with the weight of the stillness on my shoulders. I just thought it would take longer”

“You can’t live in stillness, waiting for something to happen for you to feel alive”, Xena tells him with a soft voice. “If you do nothing, you might as well be dead”

“I realize that now”, the king responds. “I’ll be what I want to be and I’ll do what I want to do **_right now_**. I will do **_good_**. The future may never come. I want to carry good deeds with myself”

“There is no future”, Gabrielle jumps in. “There is only the **_now_** ”

“I suppose you’re right”, Timor says.

Xena hands him the rod. He takes it, feeling surprised, and smiles at her. She can see the good in him. The bright light clears the room again, and after that, the king is healed. He can finally breathe deeply again, and he does.

“Thank you, Xena and Gabrielle. I owe you two more than I can say. Take whatever you want”

“We don’t want anything”, Xena says. “As long as you be good to your people”

“I will be”, Timor answers. “But let me ask you something… Is there any chance you can leave the rod of Asclepius with me?”

“That would only brand you as a target”, the warrior says. “No one should have such power. Gabrielle and I will end this”

The king nods.

***

Xena and Gabrielle are on a handmade raft, floating on the center of an enormous lake. They’re tying heavy rocks to the rod with thin ropes.

“Are you sure about this?”, Gabrielle asks. “We can heal so many people with this, Xena. We can change the world, we can **_end suffering_** ”

“King Timor was nearly killed because someone wanted this rod”, Xena answers. “I know it could heal everyone in the world, but many people would **_die_ ** because of it”

Gabrielle sighs and nods.

“Besides…”, Xena goes on. “You wouldn’t want to unbalance the equilibrium between the living and the dead. Hades might get furious”

“You’re right”

They finish tying the rocks to the rod and finally drag it out of the boat. It falls on the lake and sinks to its bottom, forever hidden.

“Since we are here, how about we fish some?”, Xena asks and smiles at Gabrielle.

“I think it’s a lovely idea”, Gabrielle smiles back at her.

***

The audience applauds Gabrielle fervently. Some people even whistle and yell. Gabrielle smiles and complies, feeling very much happy. She can see Erastus there in the middle of the crowd, the old man who gave her the advice to tell people the untold stories. He is clapping and smiling at her. He winks, and she chuckles.

“Thank you, thank you very much”, Gabrielle says.

She makes her way among the people and reaches the tavern’s desk.

“How much for the dish of the night?”, she asks the bartender.

“For you, it’s free!”, he answers.

“Wait, for real?”, she raises her eyebrows.

“Just look around”, the man opens his arms. “My tavern is **_full_ ** thanks to you. In fact, whenever you come here and tell your stories, you’ll have free food and free drinks. I also own the inn next to this house, so you can stay there for as long as you want”

“Wow”, Gabrielle smiles big. “Thank you so much, I don’t even know what to say…”

“Just say you’ll come here more often, how about that?”, he smiles at her and turns around to prepare her the dish.

She intertwine her hands in front of her, on the counter, and sits on one of the benches. She looks around, over her shoulder, and see people talking, people talking about her. About how she tells marvelous stories, about how she tells stories with such passion, how she finds the right words and how the story has a meaning behind it.

“Hi, excuse me”, a young man sits next to her with a smile. “Can I sit here?”

“Of course, please”, Gabrielle smiles back.

“Thank you. My name is Dimitrios and I **_really_ ** admire your work”

“Oh, I’m flattered”

“I am the flattered one!”, he says. “I… I always wanted to be a bard myself and I can see you have the talent. I have a few friends who share this passion with me, and I was wondering… I was wondering if…”

“Yes?”, she raises an eyebrow.

“If you would give us the honor of copying your most recent scrolls”, he says. “I know some have been copied before and are all around Greece and Rome, but… Tonight’s story was new, and people **_need_ ** to hear it. Or rather, read it”

Gabrielle giggles a little, blushing lightly.

“Ahm...”, she begins to say.

“Part of the profit would go directly to you, of course”, Dimitrios tells her. “We can have it delivered to you, no matter where you are”

“You know what?”, she raises her head and looks at him with a small smile. “The deliverer can distribute my part of the profit to the hungry people on the way”

Dimitrios lightens up.

“So, is that a yes?”, he asks.

“I think… I think that I can do good to people this way”

“This way and many ways, Gabrielle”, he says. “The stories that you tell, they inspire us to do good and to be better. After you finished telling tonight’s story, I felt goosebumps. I felt driven to… **_just go out there_ ** and **_help_ ** someone, you know? Not only do your stories encourage us, but their selling will effectively **_feed_ **people in need”

Gabrielle is smiling. She reaches out her hand.

“You have a deal”, she says.

Dimitrios takes her hand and shakes it, very happy.

“Thank you, Gabrielle! You won’t regret this!”

Moreover, he leaves to share the good news with some of his scholar friends.

The boniface places the night’s dish in front of Gabrielle, on the counter, alongside with a glass of water.

“Thank you”, she says. “Hey… what did you say your name was?”

The innkeeper/bartender looks at her with good eyes.

“Sebastianus”, he answers. “But people call me Bastian” 

“Bastian… I would like to come here every week and tell people stories, if you agree with it”

“Consider yourself the house bard”, he says and smiles even bigger.

***

It is night. Gabrielle enters the inn called “ ** _Bastianinn_** ”. It is a wooden establishment, very simple but made with strong lumber. There are about six or seven bedrooms.

She is already inside her bedroom, the bedroom to which the receptionist guided her. It is rather humble, but homey, and some candelabra enlightens the place with their orange shine. Her backpack hangs from her back as she sits on the bed, and she takes it off and pours its content all over the mattress very delicately. It’s mostly parchments and scrolls. A big writing feather. 

Gabrielle looks to the side and see the urn with Xena’s ashes on the small wooden table. She reaches her hand and grabs it with care.

“Xena, today something strange happened”, she speaks to the urn. “I… I am sure you know this, but today I told people of when we found the rod of Asclepius”, she smiles. “And they **_loved it_**. They absolutely loved it; they can’t wait to hear more. The strange thing was that… I felt… something close to happiness for the first time since you… since you **_died_** ”

Gabrielle sighs and looks outside her open window.

“All thanks to Erastus. He told me that… it would ease the pain, and that I would honor you right. You know what? It **_did_ ** ease the pain. When I was narrating, I only felt peace. It came to me so naturally… I hope you don’t feel like I’m betraying you”, she swallows hard. “Like I’m betraying everything that we lived together. Because **_I_ ** feel like I am dignifying it”

She takes another pause and stares at all her parchments. After that, she looks to the urn again.

“I think I’ll be able to sleep tonight”, and she smiles at it. “Goodnight, Xena”

Gabrielle puts the urn back on the table, pushes all the scrolls to the floor, lays down in bed and blows the candle off.

***

Erastus is finishing writing something on a very small piece of parchment. There is a _pomarine jaeger_ (sea bird) standing on the table very close to where the man writes.

“This will do, Remy”, Erastus talks to the bird, and starts rolling the small parchment. It is as big as a toe.

“You want to know what I wrote, don’t you? Since you can’t read?”, the old man caresses the bird gently. “I can’t tell you much, for not even I know everything. However, I only wrote that **_I did what she asked me to._** **_The seed was planted_** ”

Gingerly, Erastus ties with a golden thread the piece of rolled parchment to the bird’s leg.

“I know you don’t like to fly nighttime, but you need to deliver this message to her”, he holds the bird with care and brings it to the window. “Go now. I’ll see you soon, Remy”

Erastus releases the bird, and it flies away, disappearing in the darkness.

“I’ll see you soon”

**END OF EPISODE #1**

  
  



	2. Episode 02 - Playing with puppies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to go on posting those anyway! Hope you like it!

**EPISODE #2, “** **PLAYING WITH PUPPIES** **”.**

The sun goes up and down for some times. Gabrielle writes on her parchments every night, it helps her fall asleep. Words echo in her head: “Xena, careful, Joxer, fish, unique, dangerous, tribe, faraway, puppy”

***

The messenger bird lands graciously on Erastus lifted arm in an open field of wheat. He gently unties the small piece of parchment from its leg and unrolls it to read the words written in greek.

“Well, Remy”, he speaks to the bird. “I guess our only task now is to wait”

He fondles the bird’s back and stares at the clouds.

“Why are you not telling me everything?”, he asks in vain.

***

“I don’t really think it needs to be sharpened, but, could you take a look?”, Gabrielle is handing Xena’s chakram – or rather,  **_her_ ** chakram – to the village’s blacksmith.

He is an old man with no beard, and he has some instruments of sharpening and making horseshoes. It’s sort of a tent on the middle of the village, people are passing through.

The blacksmith takes the chakram and examines it carefully.

“It doesn’t need to be sharpened”, he holds it against the sky and slides one finger on the border. “But I sure can polish it. It’s dirty”

“Sounds good”, Gabrielle says. “How much?”

“Five dinars”

“ **_Five dinars_ ** ? What are you going to do? Grab a wet cloth and rub it on it? I could do that myself for free, you know”, she raises one eyebrow and shows a part of herself she had even forgotten about: the one that loves to bargain.

The man sighs.

“Fine. Three dinars”

“I’ll give you two”, she already has the coins on her hand.

The man grimaces, but accepts with a nod and a groan. He takes the coins and turns around.

“You come back by sunset and I’ll have it ready for you”, he says.

“Thank you, kind sir!”, Gabrielle smiles, and the man just gestures her to go away.

When she turns around, she meets with Dimitrios. He is smiling and there are some more people with him; two men and a woman about his age.

“Good morning, Gabrielle”, he says. “I just would like to introduce you to my fellow bards. These are Alec and Nikos, and this is Petra”

Gabrielle shakes hands with all of them whilst they say their “hello, pleased to meet you”

“We would like to express our gratitude, Gabrielle”, Alec says, he has a nice smile. “It’s an honor for us to copy your scrolls”

“And your writing is…  **_marvelous_ ** ”, Petra adds with a glow in her eyes.

“Thank  **_you_ ** for this amazing work you’re doing”, Gabrielle replies.

“I take it you’ll tell one more story tonight? I asked Bastian and he said you’d come once every week or something”, Niko speaks quickly and seems a little embarrassed.

“Yes, tonight I will”, she answers, and they all get excited like kids.

“Was that Xena’s chakram you wanted to sharpen?”, Petra asks.

Gabrielle is caught off guard. She looks back to the blacksmith spinning a round rock and polishing the round metal weapon and opens her mouth a couple times before answering.

“…Yes”, she simply says.

“Looks like a good weapon”, Petra finishes stating.

“Well, I guess we will see you tonight, Gabrielle”, Dimitrios flashes her a smile and starts to walk away.

Niko, Alec and Petra smile at her too and back out too, but not before Petra and Gabrielle exchanging one meaningful look.

***

The tavern is even fuller than the past week. Gabrielle can see that some people are outsiders due to their distinct clothing. She has her chakram back to her waist. 

“Hey, Milah…”, Gabrielle whispers to the bartender, who is now a woman, Bastian’s wife. “Do you think there will be chairs for everyone?”

“Don’t worry, Gabs”, the woman says. “Some people brought their own chairs, and other don’t mind sitting on the floor”

“It’s crazy how many people are here”

Milah shrugs all smiley.

“The word of your storytelling spread”, she says, and winks at Gabrielle. “Now go and amaze all of us once more”

Gabrielle drinks the beer from the mug all at once, breathes deeply and goes face the challenge, that to her is no challenge at all. It is her  _ pleasure _ .

She sits down on the chair that is on the center of the “stage” they all arranged for her (just one more layer of wood on the floor) and the audience immediately settles and makes silence. Everyone is looking at her.

“Goodnight, everyone”, she says.

“Goodnight, Gabrielle”, they answer.

“Tonight I’ll tell you a story that happened a long time ago”, she begins. “In a place far, far away to the south. You’re all familiar with Joxer, the mighty, aren’t you?”

“Yes!”, they respond.

One little boy starts singing Joxer’s song, which makes everyone laugh.

“That’s the one”, Gabrielle says.

“I don’t know who he is”, one man raises his hand.

“Well, you should”, Gabrielle responds with a sweet smile. “He… he was a good man and a warrior. One of my best friends”

***

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer are setting up camp because it’s night and they’re in the middle of an unique forest.

“Aren’t we like, **_super far_** from Greece? It’s been **_days_** since I last heard someone speaking greek”, Joxer asks as he tries to rub two stones together to make fire. “It’s been days since I last **_saw_** **_anyone_** , actually” 

He is kneeling close to a fire skeleton.

“I think we are close to  _ Erythrea _ , the red sea”, Gabrielle speaks while she cleans the fishes.

“Yeah,  **_right_ ** ”, Joxer mocks her. “The red sea. Just because we crossed a sea, it doesn’t mean we are close to another one, Gabrielle. Use your head”

Gabrielle and Xena share a look; Xena finds it fun and Gabrielle finds it annoying. Xena is unrolling the fur blankets they use as beds.

“Anyway, we  _ are _ returning to Greece soon in the morning tomorrow, I think we did wander off too far”, Xena says.

“I think that the further, the better”, Gabrielle says.

Xena looks at her.

“I agree”, then she gets close to speak to her privately. “But I have the tingling feeling I only get when I know I’m being watched”

Gabrielle suddenly stops and looks around, a little scared.

“Hey, Joxer, is that fire ever coming up?”, Xena asks him, and crosses her arms. “We don’t want to eat raw fish, you know”

“If you’ll  **_excuse me_ ** , it takes some time to perform the perfect sparkle…”, Joxer tries a lame excuse and keeps on scratching the rocks together. “Takes technique and the rough hands of a strong man…”

Xena sighs and loses her patience. She draws her sword, and with a shout she hits one of the rocks on Joxer’s hand, making him jump completely frightened. However, that movement creates the perfect sparkle that initiates the fire on the branches.

“Done”, Xena blows her sword and puts it back inside the sheath on her back.

Joxer sighs and just throws the rocks back over his shoulder.

Suddenly, they hear a growl. Xena takes out her sword in the same second and Gabrielle stops moving, while Joxer laughs and says:

“Wow, Xena, was that your stomach? No wonder you wanted the fire, you’re really hung-”, but he stops talking because Xena covers his mouth abruptly.

“ **_Silence_ ** ”, she whispers.

There’s a tension around, they all know there is  **_something_ ** there, some kind of animal, a predator.

They hear movement among the trees and bushes. Underbrush being stepped on.

“What is it?”, Gabrielle whispers. “A leopard? A lion? A jaguar?”

“I don’t know, but be prepared”, Xena answers as she lets go of Joxer.

He swallows dryly, scared for his life, and slowly draws his big sword. Neither Gabrielle nor Joxer seem to know what to do or where to look, but Xena keeps her guard up, following the subtle sounds like she knows what they’re dealing with.

“It’s walking around us”, Xena hisses.

After a few more moments of tension, after some more growls and strange sounds, Xena spots something in the middle of the trees.

“ **_There_ ** ”, she points her sword.

Gabrielle and Joxer can see what she sees: it’s a pair of glowing eyes, like the cats’ eyes reflecting the light. The growls become more audible and loud.

“I’m… I’m paralyzed…”, Joxer whispers.

“So am I”, Gabrielle responds, unable to move one inch.

“You can’t look directly at it”, Xena says. “Look some inches below the eyes”

They do as told and finally move some, taking new hold of their weapons.

Finally, the creature jumps to them and attacks. It lands on top of Xena and Joxer falls with his butt on the fire, extinguishing the flames, so everything is pitch-black now.

“ **_Xena!_ ** ”, Gabrielle yells, blind.

The moonlight illuminates a little, but all that can be heard is Xena fighting with the mysterious creature. Some weird roars come out of the creature throat.

“Stay far!”, Xena screams, and after a while struggling and fighting with the creature, she manages to scratch it with her sword.

The creature lets out a hurt cry and jumps away from Xena, towards Gabrielle.

“Gabrielle,  **_MOVE!_ ** ”, Xena screams, but too late, because Gabrielle looks in the eyes that reflected the moonlight and her movements are slowed by three times.

The creature bites Gabrielle’s shoulder, and she screams and cries in pain.

“ **_NO!_ ** ”, Xena yells. She jumps and screams her war cry; when she reaches the creature, she kicks it with such strength that the creature lets go of Gabrielle with a breaking sound and a hurt cry.

After that, the creature runs to the forest and goes away.

Gabrielle, however, is on the floor, moaning of pain and crying. Xena kneels beside her.

“Gabrielle, are you alright?! Where did it get you?!”, Xena inquires as she touches her friend. “ **_JOXER, WE NEED SOME LIGHT HERE!_ ** ”

“Y-y-yes, Xena, right away”, Joxer takes three tries to light a fire, but when he does, he lightens up a torch from it and approaches the two women.

Joxer and Xena can see that Gabrielle’s shoulder is badly injured; there is a deep wound there and something white stuck inside it. She’s bleeding a lot. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine…”, Gabrielle keeps saying.

“There’s… there’s something here”, Xena says. “I think it’s a  **_tooth_ ** ”

Joxer fights the urge to vomit and pass out.

Xena grabs her dagger and slides it in the flame of the torch.

“Gabrielle, I need you to be strong, this is going to hurt”, Xena says with sympathetic eyes on her friend.

Gabrielle nods and breathes deeply.

“Right”, she speaks.

“Joxer, hold her hand”, Xena commands.

Joxer puts himself beside Gabrielle, kneeling as well, and holds her hand.

“Don’t worry, Gabrielle, little girl, I’m here, you can squeeze me as much as you want”, he tells her.

Gabrielle squeezes it and closes her eyes.

“Just do it”, she says.

Xena carefully enters the wound by its edge and starts removing the tooth like it is a carrot being removed from the soil with a shovel. Gabrielle screams in pain and squeezes Joxer’s hand. He grimaces and screams along with her.

“I know this is hard, but try to keep quiet; that thing could come back”, Xena looks at them with serious eyes.

At last, Xena takes off the whole tooth and looks at it. It’s big, the size of a human finger, pointy and sharp. Xena’s face is filled with confusion.

“What? What is it?”, Joxer asks as he sees the bloody tooth. “Oh…”, he then finally rolls his eyes and passes out.

“It’s made of  **_bone_ ** ”, Xena says, and looks at Gabrielle, who is gasping and staring at her with the same expression.

***INTRO PLAYS***

Later that same night, they’re at the same place. Joxer is still passed out, and Xena is stitching Gabrielle’s shoulder. The fire is going.

“What  **_was_ ** that creature?”, Gabrielle asks as she drinks water. “Did you get to see it?”

“No, I didn’t”, Xena responds, even though she’s focused on stitching Gabrielle’s skin. “But it was hairy and had a terrible breath. It reminded me of… a wolf, or a hyena. But neither of them have  **_bone teeth_ ** ”

“That’s the weirdest thing”, Gabrielle shivers a little with the pain of the needle puncturing her skin.

“I’m sorry”, Xena apologizes.

“It’s fine. Actually, let me rephrase that. The weirdest thing is Joxer passing out after seeing blood. What did he expect to come across by being a warrior?”

“You don’t really like him, do you?”, Xena asks with a smirk.

“Xena, he tried to deliver me to Callisto more times than I can remember”, Gabrielle says.

“Yes, but when she asked him to kill you, he couldn’t do it”, Xena ties a knot on the threat she’s stitching Gabrielle’s skin with and cuts it with her dagger. “He might not be exactly the  **_kindest company_ ** , but he does have a kind heart”

Gabrielle looks over her shoulder to see a passed out Joxer on the ground.

“I guess he does”, she says. “It’s just taking me awhile to get over my grudge”

“That can be fatal”, Xena kids and smiles at her.

“Thank you for the stitches”, Gabrielle says.

“Come on, you should try and get some rest. I’ll keep watch”.

“Right, but wake me up so we can take turns. I know how grumpy you get when you don’t sleep enough”

Xena smiles.

“Sounds fair”

***

From the sky we can see them. Gabrielle sleeping, Joxer passed out (sleeping by now), Xena sitting close to a tree, sharpening her sword. Joxer wakes up and says:

“I’m up, I’m up! Xena! What do you need me for?”, and his voice can be heard.

“Just go back to sleep, Joxer”, Xena says.

Joxer begins to mumble something, but ends up falling back into slumber.

***

The sun rises. Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer are walking in the forest.

“Good timing we decided to go back to Greece”, says Gabrielle. “We don’t have creepy hyena-like creatures with bone teeth there”

“No”, Xena agrees. “We only have blind giants, centaurs, minotaurs, crazy gods…”

“Ha-ha. I got your point”, Gabrielle answers.

“Maybe we should walk  **_faster_ ** ”, a scared Joxer speaks and walks past the two women.

“Joxer, don’t worry”, Xena says. “It seemed nocturnal”

“Ahm, I think you mean  **_neptunal,_ ** and no, it  **_did not_ ** seem neptunal, we are not in the sea. What’s wrong with you two and the sea?”, he answers.

Gabrielle looks at Xena and Xena rolls her eyes.

“I mean it seems it only hunts  **_at night_ ** ”, the dark-haired woman corrects him.

“Oh”, Joxer slows down and tries to make up for his mistake. “I obviously knew that… I was just making sure you didn’t get it confused with… a… mermaid… or something… Anyway… uh… look, is that fire?”

He points at the sky, where they all see a black line of smoke flowing to the sky.

“Yes, it is”, Xena says. “Let’s go”

They start running to the origin of the fire.

***

Xena, Joxer and Gabrielle get to a tribe that is burning corpses. The leader is speaking:

“We burn your bodies because you died by the teeth and claws of the evil beast”, he sets more and more fire to the line of bodies. “Your spirits… won’t rest. But we beg you… don’t trouble the living…”

There are some people watching; they’re scared and some of them are crying. Some women have their faces scratched by their own nails.

“Looks like we weren’t the only ones attacked by that creature”, Xena says.

“This is horrible”, Gabrielle speaks, and moans a little because her shoulder hurts.

“Are you alright?”, Xena asks her.

“Yes, it just hurts”

“Let’s see if those people can help us with a painkiller herb or something”

Therefore, the three of them begin walking towards the tribe. When they see them, they whisper to each other and get surprised. Apparently, they rarely have contact with outsiders.

The leader, full of tribal ornaments, stops everything he is doing and looks at the visitors with his forehead furrowed.

“Who are you and what do you want?”, he asks.

“My name is Xena. These are Gabrielle and Joxer. Last night we have been attacked by a creature, and…”

“And you’re still  **_alive_ ** ?”, the leader asks, impressed.

“Barely”, Gabrielle answers.

“We were wondering if you might help us with some medication”, Xena goes on. “Gabrielle here was injured”

“ **_How_ ** are you still alive?”, the leader remains stuck on that.

Xena sighs, starting to lose her patience.

“I fought it”, she answers. “And it left a tooth behind”, she takes the bone tooth and shows him.

The whole tribe is shocked. The leader approaches, with his eyes wide open and mouth too. His eyes are locked on the tooth. He slowly takes it from Xena’s hand and stares at it.

“You… you can fight it…”, the man says.

“I wouldn’t s-”, but she can barely disagree, because the leader already is screaming to his people:

“ **_SHE CAN FIGHT IT!_ ** ”

And everyone yells cheering happily. Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer don’t know what to do.

“Will you help us? Will you help us fight the beast?”, the leader turns to Xena with such begging eyes.

She looks at everyone from the tribe; they all have hope for the first time in a long time. Gabrielle and Joxer look at her. Joxer is frightened and shakes his head as in “no”, but Gabrielle shoots her a look and shakes her head as in “yes”. Xena sighs and gives in.

“Yes, we will”, she says.

The tribe cheers even more intensely.

“But I need medicine for my friend”, she adds.

“Of course, of course, come with me”, the leader puts a hand on Xena’s back and guide them inside the simple tribe.

***

He leads them inside a tent that has two very old men with white paintings on their faces.

“They’re healers”, he says.

“How come you speak greek?”, Xena asks.

“We have greek visitors sometimes. It’s their trading route. Go, you with the yellow hair. Go to them”, the leader gestures for Gabrielle to approach.

She looks at Xena, who nods, and she sits beside the old men.

“Hi”, Gabrielle says to the men, and smile at them. They smile back, grab her arm and start rubbing a weird, green mixture to her injury.

“My name is Zewedu”, the leader says. “Tell me how… how you fought the beast”

“Well, with my help, of course”, Joxer interjects, puffing his chest like a pigeon.

Xena only looks at him with narrowed eyes, and he gets shy.

“I’ll… join Gabrielle there with those… old men”, and he does so.

“We couldn’t look it in the eyes”, says Xena, motioning to explain. “Its look would delay our movements, I felt heavy when I saw its eyes reflecting the fire. So, I looked a bit down… and it jumped on me. I tried to fight it with my sword, but then it attacked Gabrielle. I kicked it with both my legs and broke its tooth.  **_That’s_ ** why it left. I think it was in pain”

“At least you got to strike it”, Zewedu says. “We didn’t stand a chance. It has been two nights that this creature is attacking us, and we don’t even know why”

“We know, then, that it only attacks at night”, Xena replies.

“It is evil”, one of the old men says with a deep voice. “It tricks. It sounds like people. It kills”

“Do you know what it is?”, Xena asks him.

“ **_Akabo_ ** ”, he answers. “Crocotta”

“Crocotta”, the warrior repeats. “It is still morning; we have time to come up with something before the night comes”

“Yes, yes”, Zewedu speaks. “Eat! We have plenty of food. I’ll bring some”

He gets out of the tent. 

“Thank you, it doesn’t hurt anymore”, Gabrielle tells the two old men who were spreading the mixture on her wound. “Thank you very much”

They smile at her and so does she.

“Come on”, Xena tells Gabrielle and Joxer. “We might as well eat some”

***

They are sitting on fallen trunks: Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Zewedu and some other people from the tribe. With that, they form a circle. They’re eating some fruits and typical food from handmade bowls.

“So this started out of nowhere?”, Gabrielle asks.

“Yes”, one man responds. “It was sudden. No one did anything to initiate this”

“And you all heard about this creature before”, Xena affirms.

“Oh, yes”, Zewedu speaks. “Akabo. Evil wolf, hyena, lion; a combination of everything. Skull becomes their teeth, no gum”

“And what’s the plan here?”, Joxer asks.

Xena looks at him and rolls her eyes at his demanding tone.

“Assuming it will attack again tonight, we must set out a trap for it”, Xena says. “I’ll check the surrounding forest looking for tracks and try to see how this ‘akabo’ moves. Depending on the way the beast makes to get to the tribe, we’ll have a location for the trap”

Silence for one moment.

“There’s only one problem”, Xena speaks. “We need a bait”

Everyone looks around, they look at each other, but no one volunteers. Then, Xena looks at Joxer. And everyone else looks at him too.

“What,  **_me_ ** ?! Are you  **_crazy_ ** ?”, he freaks out.

“We need someone who’ll make a lot of noise when the sun sets”, Xena says. “Only your  **_armor_ ** by itself is a rattle”

“No! I won’t serve as a bait! I-I refuse!”, Joxer gets up angry.

“If he’s too afraid, I have some brave men who’d volunteer”, Zewedu says.

That makes Joxer stop. He looks around and swallows hard, trying to pull himself together.

“I  **_am_ ** brave”, he speaks. “I am Joxer, the mighty. Okay, okay, I’ll… I’ll do as bait”

Xena smiles at him.

“I always believed in you, Joxer”, she grabs him by the neck. “I’ll tell you what to do when the sun goes down. In the meantime, why don’t you go mingle and learn some about this new culture?”

Joxer nods.

“Sounds like a good idea, yes. I could teach them how to fight and protect themselves…” and he goes away to the center of the tribe.

Xena, then, turns back to Zewedu.

“If we are putting our man in danger, you have to do your part as well”, she says.

“But of course!”, the leader speaks. “Name it and it’s done”

“I need ten warriors, armed, ready to kill or be killed. And I need you to order the rest of the tribe to make  **_utter silence_ ** tonight. No one can make a sound. It has to be  **_complete silence_ ** , and no lights, no fire”

The leader nods.

“That can be done. Don’t worry”, he says.

“Thanks. I’ll look around for tracks”, and she gets up after taking the last bite of her fruit.

“I’ll go with you”, Gabrielle gets up as well.

“I think it will be faster if we cover different areas of the forest”, Xena speaks. “You take that half”, and she points to the forest behind Gabrielle. “And I’ll take the other. We meet here soon”

“Alright”, Gabrielle says. “It will be a rough night”

“Not for you, it won’t”

“What?”, she stops to look at Xena with a confused look.

Xena turns to her and they have a private conversation:

“Tonight you’ll stay here in the tribe, making silence”

“What?  **_Why?_ ** No! Just because I’m injured it doesn’t mean I’m invalid!”, she places her hand on her waist, indignant. 

“I know you’re not”, Xena says with a kind voice. “But I still need you to stay and make sure no one makes a noise”

Gabrielle sighs.

“Fine”, she says.

“Thank you”, Xena smiles weakly at her.

***

Gabrielle is walking on her side of the forest, looking for tracks on the ground and on the branches. She searches for quite some time, and goes deeper in the forest. That’s when she hears a cry… and it sounds like a baby cry.

“What’s that?!”, she asks herself, and follows the sound, which doesn’t repeat itself.

She runs through the woods and trees and reaches a field of dark mud. Then she sees a small dog puppy in the middle of the field: its legs are stuck to the mud and it can’t walk. The puppy sees her and lets out a dog cry.

“That’s what I heard, not a baby”, she tells herself as she begins to walk towards the puppy. “Don’t worry, cutie, I’m going to save you”

As she approaches, the puppy gets more agitated. It is covered in mud and Gabrielle can barely see the color of his fur.

“No, don’t freak out, I’m here to help”, she finally reaches the puppy with a smile and gently holds him carefully, pulling him up. “There you go, you’re safe”

The puppy begins to lick her arm and she giggles, caressing him.

“I’ll take you back to the tribe and give you a nice, clean shower with warm water. How about that?”

And she walks back, holding her new friend carefully and talking to him from time to time.

***

Xena, on the other hand, finds the creature’s tracks.

“There you are”, she speaks to the tracks on the ground and on the broken branches. “Came from there… the South… both times”, she goes on following the tracks as they speak to her. “Circled the tribe from here… Climbed this tree… but not too high”, she puts her hand on the trunk of a tree that is scratched. “Watched… listened… and  **_attacked_ ** ”

Her eyes go to the tribe in movement and she wonders how it feels to be the creature.

“This is the place to set up the trap”

***

Joxer is walking around the tribe, drinking from his own water bottle, when he sees some people and kids gathering around a very old man full of wrinkles and ornaments. He has an enormous lip plate in his lower lip. Joxer gets curious and approaches.

One boy looks over his shoulder, sees Joxer and gestures for him to join. Joxer looks back, points a finger to himself and asks the boy: “Me?!”. The kid nods, and Joxer does as told. He sits beside the boy, and the boy turns to him:

“He will tell us a story”

“I don’t speak your language”, Joxer replies.

“I’ll translate it for you”, the boy smiles.

“Oh, alright”, Joxer feels happy and included. “Thanks! You’re a sweet kid”

As the old man speaks, the kid translates to Joxer very slowly:

“There was a cub leopard who was playing by itself in the forest. He, then, saw a cub goat and went to talk to him. He said: ‘hello, goat. Would you like to be my friend and play with me?’. The cub goat answered: ‘Yes, I am now your friend and will play with you’. So on that day, they played, chased butterflies, rolled on grass, and had a delightful time together. When the sun set, they both returned home to their mothers. The cub leopard told his mother: ‘mother, I made a friend today and we played together’. The mother asked: ‘that is good, son. What friend?’. The cub leopard answered: ‘he has brown fur and says mee-mee’. ‘A goat?’, the mom asked, surprised. ‘Goats are good to eat. We eat goats. Bring him home tomorrow and we will eat him’. The cub leopard was shocked and scared, and said: ‘but I don’t want to do that, he is my friend’. ‘Are you a leopard or a mouse? All leopards eat goats. Bring him home tomorrow and we will eat him’. The cub goat got to his own mother and told her he has been playing with a cub leopard. ‘A leopard?’, his mom asked with fear. ‘Leopards eat goats! The next time you see the leopard, run the fastest you can’. ‘But, mom’, said the cub goat. ‘He won’t eat me. He is my friend’. ‘Are you a fool or a goat?’, his mom asks. ‘Leopards eat goats. You have to run from him’. On the next day, the cub leopard say the cub goat playing by himself, rolling on the grass and shaking his tail happily. ‘He does seem good to eat’, thought the cub leopard. He approached the cub goat and asked: ‘hey, goat. Come to my house, we will play there’. The goat rose up and started to walk away, saying: ‘No, I won’t’. ‘But we can have fun. My mom wants to meet you’, the leopard insisted. ‘No’, the goat said. ‘Yesterday we were friends and we played together. I went home and spoke to my mother, and you went home and spoke to your mother. Goodbye, my friend. You are my enemy now’, and he ran away. The leopard got sad, and thought: ‘I lost a friend’… and went home”

***

Xena walks back to the tribe. The sun is up and the sight is very beautiful. She finds Gabrielle washing something on a huge clay bowl with water.

“Hey, Gabrielle”, she approaches her. “What do you got there?”

“Xena, I found a puppy”, she smiles at the warrior. “He was stuck on a mud field. I rescued it and am now giving it a much needed shower”

“That sounds great”, Xena crosses her arms at her. “So, no tracks there where you went, huh?”

“I… uh… Xena… the puppy…”

“That’s fine; I got all the tracks where  **_I_ ** went anyway”, she says. “I found the spot for the trap. Now I’ll talk to Zewedu and see the men he selected”

“Okay”, Gabrielle speaks. “What should we name him?”

Xena looks at the puppy.

“How about…”

“Don’t you dare say ‘Muddy’, Xena. I know your creativity can be… quite horrible”

Xena’s face falls down and she grimaces grumpily at Gabrielle.

“Then why don’t  **_you_ ** choose a nice name?”, she asks her. “But please don’t name the poor puppy ‘Euripides’ or ‘Seneca’ or ‘Sophocles’”

“Why can’t you let me pass on some culture here?”, she goes on washing the puppy with tenderness.

“ **_To a dog_ ** ?”, Xena gets indignant.

“He can-”, but they stop arguing when they hear Joxer’s voice yelling loudly.

“Yes! Now… a quick hit to the left with your arms very flexed!”, he is saying.

Xena and Gabrielle look at each other with curiosity. Xena begins to walk to the sound and sees that Joxer got some staffs and distributed to the kids of the tribe. He is teaching them how to protect and attack with it. He really has it organized.

“There’s something I never thought I’d see”, Xena crosses her arms and keeps watching as Joxer yells the theory, but whenever he gets his own staff, he loses his balance and either hits himself accidentally or falls to the ground.

“By the gods”, Gabrielle joins her; she has the puppy wrapped carefully in a piece of cloth and is holding him. “Are we really going to let him teach something that he doesn’t even know?”

“Let’s give him a chance”, Xena responds. “He may not know the practice, but he seems to know the theory alright. Teaching them something is better than teaching them nothing”

Gabrielle sighs.

“I just hope he doesn’t teach them  **_wrong_ ** stuff”

“Let him be. Just look how excited he is”

Joxer really is excited. He won’t stop.

***

The time passes. The sun slides by the sky.

Gabrielle is playing with the puppy; she’s running and he is running after her. Some kids gather and start playing with it too. They give him food and they laugh.

Xena sees all that and joins Gabrielle as she watches the kids having fun with the puppy.

“So, did you name him?”, Xena asks.

Gabrielle looks at her with a smirk.

“Yes. Muddy”

Xena giggles a little.

“Here, let me check on your wound”

Gabrielle sits on a trunk and lets Xena examine it.

“I think it’s fine, it hasn’t been hurting since those healers rubbed that ointment there”, she says.

“They really have some nice plans here”, Xena agrees and covers Gabrielle’s wound. “It’s clear and good. Will heal fast”

“Thank you. Xena, do you think your plan is going to work out?”

Xena sighs.

“I hope so. I can’t have this people being attacked every night”

“It’s going to be fine”

“You have an important job here too, Gabrielle”

“I know. Don’t worry, no one will lit up a torch or even sneeze on my watch”

Xena smiles at her and gently caresses her arm.

“Thanks. I’ll go get Joxer…”

But as she says that, Joxer runs to both of the women with excitement.

“Xena… Gabrielle… I did it, I trained them this whole day. I think this is good, this way they’re going to be sleeping throughout the night and make silence, and… they’re pretty good, let me say it”, he smiles. “They’re even better than me! Their own teacher!”

“ **_Really?!_ ** ”, Gabrielle asks with a mocking tone.

“You mock me now, but just wait until the demonstration is over.  **_KIDS!_ ** ” Joxer claps his hand.

A bunch of kids with fighting staffs form position in front of the three of them.

“ **_BEGIN DEMONSTRATION_ ** !”, he yells.

The kids, screaming the numbers of their hits, perform a spectacular presentation with perfect hits and kicks and strokes and everything. They finish screaming:  **_YÁ_ ** !!!

Xena and Gabrielle are impressed and shocked.

“Joxer… did  **_you_ ** teach them that?”, Gabrielle asks, without believing it.

“Yes, I did”, he smiles cockily at her. “What do you think, Xena? Huh? They’re learning from the best, huh?”

“Look, Joxer, I really have to give it to you”, Xena says and smiles. “Good work. This was impressive. I had no idea you could be such a good teacher”

“And  **_that_ ** is what I call being recognized”, Joxer says and bows. “Thank you, Xena. I also taught them to be fearless and face the danger…”

“Good, because it’s time to go”, Xena speaks.

Joxer loses all of his posture, swallows dry and shivers with fear.

“Oh, gods”, he exclaims. “I… I…”

Xena holds him by the shoulders.

“Joxer, be brave”, she looks at the kids with the staffs. “Be an example to them”

Joxer looks at the kids that smile to him, and he forces himself to smile back.

“Kids, I’ll help Xena kill the beast”

And the kids cheer. They love him.

“Be careful”, Gabrielle tells Xena.

Xena gets close to Gabrielle and kisses her forehead lovingly.

“Always am”, she answers, and leaves a smiley Gabrielle behind.

“Alright, everyone; it’s time to go home, make silence and make darkness!”, Gabrielle tells the people from the tribe.

***

The sun is almost setting. Xena is in the forest, with Joxer and ten armed warriors with spears and bows and arrows. She is tying a rope around Joxer’s waist.

“Can you tell me the plan again?”, Joxer asks. He is frightened.

“Joxer, I told you a  **_million_ ** times. Listen carefully now”, Xena says. “You will make noise. Shaking with fear makes the metal of your armor jolt, and that produces quite a loud noise, which is good. You can do that either voluntarily or not. Also, talk. Talk loud. The warriors will be hidden in the bushes all around you, so you’re  **_not_ ** in danger. I’ll be on the top of this tree here. When we hear the beast approaching, the men will prepare their arrows. When we  **_see_ ** the beast, I will jump from the tree holding this rope, which means you’ll be lifted to the highest branch of the tree and there you’ll be safe while the warriors and I  **_kill_ ** the beast”

“Okay… okay, so my part is… to just make noise… and not pass out…”, Joxer says and looks at her.

Xena cups his face gently.

“It will be fine. I’ll protect you”, then she turns to the warriors. “Don’t forget to avoid its eyes”

The sun sets and everything gets darker. There is a spear with a flaming edge, like a very long torch, stuck on the ground close to Joxer.

Joxer starts trembling and Xena climbs the tree. The warriors hide in the bushes.

“You know, Xena, this doesn’t sound like such a good plan now that it is happening…”, Joxer says.

“Good, Joxer, keep talking”, Xena tells him from the tree.

“Well this will be hard… I don’t know what to say except I’m almost peeing my pants”, he swallows. “I mean, because I need to pee but I guess it’s too late for that now… And, hm, I don’t know. I think you’re very pretty, Xena. Don’t get me wrong, Gabrielle is pretty too, but when I heard about you, I thought you’d be a masculine, weird woman with a beard… I was wrong, of course. Guess I was thinking too much of the Nordic women or something. Not that I  **_know_ ** any Nordic woman, they just sound to be bearded for some reason. I actually…”

And then a growl is heard. Joxer stops talking and swallows hard, feeling super scared.

“Oh, my gods, it’s here”, he whispers. “You… beast… you’re here, aren’t you…?”

Another growl and Xena looks for the creature, but doesn’t find anything with her eyes. She can hear it moving, whough.

The warriors are ready to shoot the beast with their arrows. The tension is palpable. Joxer’s armor is shaking and making metal noise.

Then…

“ **_XENA!!!_ ** ”, it’s a scream, and it is  **_Gabrielle’s_ ** voice.

Xena, that is ready to jump holding the rope, changes expression in one second, going from ready to kill to worried sick.

“ **_GABRIELLE?!_ ** ”, she yells back. “GABRIELLE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

With a battle cry, she jumps from the tree holding the rope, which means Joxer gets pulled up (and he screams with the scare) and stuck to the highest branch, and she lands on the floor; her eyes wide open, searching for Gabrielle.

“ **_XENA, HELP ME!_ ** ”, Gabrielle’s voice scream again.

Xena draws her sword and looks around, trying to find out where the voice is coming from.

“ **_WHERE ARE YOU?_ ** ”, she yells.

Suddenly, the warrior men all go to Xena and grab her, saying:

“NO, NO, NO, NO”

They’re trying to stop her, trying to stop her from reaching Gabrielle, and because of that she pushes them and asks:

“ **_What are you all doing?!_ ** ”

However, before they can explain, the creature attacks.

It jumps amongst them, kills one man by biting his head off. The others are trying to punch it with their spears and arrows, but they don’t succeed. The creature is too strong. Xena takes her chakram and throws it to the beast’s head.  _ And it stays stuck there, on its hard skull _ . Nevertheless, it doesn’t kill it.

The creature opens its mouth, and when everyone thinks it would howl to the moon, Gabrielle’s voice comes out of its mouth even though it’s open still:

“ **_XENA, HELP ME_ ** ”

Xena opens her eyes widely.

“It’s not Gabrielle, it’s  **_you_ ** ”, she whispers.

Some of the warriors manage to shoot their arrows all at once at the Crocotta, and they hit its skin. Hurt and injured, the creature jumps back to darkness and runs away.

Xena is out of breath. She is paralyzed.

“It set up a trap for  **_us_ ** ”, she speaks.

“We tried to warn you”, one of the warriors say. “But you believed it”

“How could I know this creature from Tartarus can reproduce human voice?!”, then she stops and remembers one of the old men that healed Gabrielle saying something like that. “So  **_that_ ** is what he meant when he said it sounds like people…”

“One man died…”, the warriors form a circle around the dead, headless body.

Xena sighs.

“Hey…”, a voice comes from the sky. It’s Joxer hanging from the branch. “Can anyone help me get down, please?”

***

The sun rises and Zewedu is burning one more body. It’s a burial. Some people are watching and they’re sad and scared.

“We burn you because you died impurely… by the teeth and the claws of the evil beast”, he repeats. “Your soul shall not rest, but we beg you, don’t disturb the living…”

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer watch. Gabrielle is carrying the puppy with her. She walks to Zewedu.

“Why do you burn them instead of giving them a proper ceremony?”, she asks him with sadness. “The elders told me it’s some sort of… punishment or something”

“They were killed by the beast. It’s not natural”, he answers.

“Yes, but that is not their fault”, she responds. “He died fighting, and he and the others died helplessly. You shouldn’t doom their souls as well”

Zewedu seems to give that a real deep thought.

***

Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Zewedu, the elders and some other people are gathered inside a big tent.

“We need a bigger trap”, Xena says, looking at them all with seriousness. “Is there a place where your people can hide that is not the tribe?”

A warrior man speaks something in his own language to Zewedu. Zewedu, however, answers him in the same language, but with a tone of disapproval and condemnation.

“ **_What?_ ** What did he say?”, Xena asks with one eyebrow raised.

“He said we shouldn’t trust you. That because of you, one of our own died last night”, Zewedu shoots him an angry look. “But I told him that it wasn’t you who killed him, it was the beast. And that you’re the best chance we have against it”

“I appreciate the trust”, Xena says, and looks at the man who contested her. “I think that if we work together once more, we can take down the creature”

The elders make a noise with their mouths that sounds like a snore in approval.

“There is a cave close to here”, Zewedu says. “My people can hide there”

“Good”, Xena replies. “Because we’re going to need to use the whole tribe as a bait”

A movement starts on the tent; people don’t quite understand what she means.

“I don’t mean the people, I mean the tribe, the tents, the  **_scenery_ ** ”, she completes. “We lit up torches everywhere, so we can see everything. We have warriors armed with bows and arrows and spears everywhere. We will corner the beast… and  **_kill_ ** it”, she says this last bit of the sentence with rage coming out of her mouth.

Everyone in the tent nods with approval and exchange revengeful looks.

The puppy squirms in Gabrielle’s hold so much that she puts him down.

“Hey, hey, what are you…”

Muddy walks out of the tent and Gabrielle follows him.

“Hey, not so fast!”

He runs across the tribe and Gabrielle loses sight of him, so she follows the trail he made.

“Where did you go, Muddy? You hungry or thirsty?”, she goes on walking after him.

And when she finally reaches him, she sees him  _ chewing a bird he just killed _ .

She jumps with the scare and covers her mouth.

“ **_By the gods_ ** , Muddy”, she exclaims. “I thought you were vegetarian. I guess I was wrong”

***

Xena walks out of the tent, but Joxer stops her from going further by calling after her.

“Xena”, he seems hesitant.

“Yes?”, she turns to him with curiosity.

“I… I thought a lot… and…”, he is fidgeting with his own sword handle. “I think I’m much better at doing good than at doing bad”

She smiles at him.

“You sure are, Joxer. You were very courageous last night. Thank you for helping me”, she puts a hand on his shoulder.

“I  **_was_ ** courageous”, he puffs his chest. “I would say my parents would be proud of me, but… since I changed sides and am now on the heroes’ side, I guess all I can say is… I’m proud of myself”

“That is all you need”

They smile at each other.

A kid approaches and grabs Joxer’s arm.

“Joxer, are you going to teach us more moves today?”, he asks.

“I sure am, little guy!”, he fondles his hair and puts an arm around his shoulders as they walk away. “But remember, you must call me ‘Joxer, the mighty’”

“Even when I’m calling for you?”, the boy asks.

“ **_Especially_ ** when you’re calling for me”

Xena chuckles at that scene.

***

The sun is almost going down. Zewedu is helping people move to the cave, where they’ll be safe. Xena and the other warriors – about 40 men – are lightening up some torches all over the tribe.

“Xena”, Gabrielle approaches, she’s holding the puppy. “Be…  **_extra_ ** careful this time”

She really seems worried.

“Gabrielle, tonight is the night”, Xena reassures her and holds her arm. “The Crocotta  **_will_ ** come, and we  **_will_ ** kill it. Sometimes the best trap is no trap at all”

Gabrielle nods.

“At least now you know it won’t be me calling you”, she speaks. “Or no one else”

“Yes”, Xena answers. “Now I know it”

“I’ll see you later”, Gabrielle says.

“See you”, Xena speaks. “ **_And_ ** you”, she fondles the puppy and smiles at him.

Gabrielle waves and goes away with the people that are going to the cave. Joxer joins her; he won’t stay to fight this time and Xena nods at him, understanding his decision.

“Ready?”, Xena asks the warriors. They all nod. “Alright. Now spread, spread. The creature will come from the south, circle us, and attack. Wherever it strikes first, we all move there and storm it”

Everyone does as told.

***

Xena is facing the border of the forest where the creature will show up. Her sword hangs from her hand and its tip almost touches the ground. She has her evil look on her face. The tribe is fully illuminated by the torches everywhere. A lightning cuts the dark sky in half. Then they hear a thunder, a strong thunder that shakes the ground.

It starts raining.

“One more sign that tonight is the night”, Xena speaks to herself.

Finally, the familiar growls start to echo from the forest. Xena holds her sword with both hands and stares at the trees and bushes. Another lightning illuminates the whole area again. The creature is close.

This time, the creature doesn’t come out of the forest with a jump. It walks slowly, with its head down, looking directly at Xena. It still has her chakram stuck to its head. However, Xena doesn’t look at its eyes.

“Welcome back,  **_akabo_ ** ”, Xena says with a smirk.

The warriors run to Xena’s side and point their arrows and spears at the beast.

“Don’t shoot”, Xena tells them. “I think it wants to duel with me”

“ **_Duel_ ** with you?”, one man asks. “Are you insane?”

“I am going to put an end to this”, Xena takes some steps forward.

The men tremble, still on position.

“Only shoot it if I die”, Xena commands.

The beast and Xena are face to face. They walk slowly roundly, facing each other, both growling and showing their aggressive teeth.

“You want to dance?”, the warrior princess asks. “Let’s dance”

The beast makes the first move: it jumps with its mouth open trying to bite Xena with its bone teeth, but Xena jumps higher with her war cry and does a somersault over the beast. She ends up kicking its back, and the beast feels the pain. They both land gracefully.

Xena spins her sword on her hand. It is her turn to attack the beast.

She invests against it, trying to stab it with her sword, but the beast is faster than she is and bites her sword away. The sword falls to the ground about three meters away from Xena. She is helpless.

After that, the beast stands over Xena, and she makes the mistake of looking it in the eyes. She gets paralyzed. She can’t breathe well. She’s probably going to die; the beast is all over her, staring, breathing, showing its bone teeth and exhaling its terrible death breath.

Until…

“ **_XENA!_ ** ”, it’s Gabrielle’s voice.

Except this time, it is not coming from the beast’s mouth.  _ It really is Gabrielle _ , and she is there.

Xena and the beast look at Gabrielle. She is holding the puppy in her arms and she looks so scared, like she made a mistake coming back there.

When the beast sees the puppy, she howls to the moon. It is a loud howl, mixed with a growl and a roar. It is horrible. The Crocotta gets off Xena and directs itself to Gabrielle. The puppy howls too and Gabrielle gets even more scared.

Xena finally understands everything.

“ **_GABRIELLE_ ** ”, Xena screams. “ **_LET GO OF THE PUPPY!!!_ ** ”

“ **_What?!_ ** ”, Gabrielle responds as she slowly walks backwards, fearing the crocotta’s approach. “It will  **_kill_ ** him if I do!”

“ **_IT IS HER BABY_ ** ”, Xena screams again. “ **_THE PUPPY IS HER BABY!!!_ ** ”

“By the Gods”, Gabrielle exclaims, and carefully puts the puppy on the ground.

The puppy barks, roars, and runs to its mother. The mother receives it with a loving neck rub and they hug on their animal way.

“That’s it”, Xena says, gasping, as she gets up. “ **_That’s why_ ** she was attacking everything on her way… she had lost her baby”

Everyone stares in utter surprise. The warriors still have their arrows and spears pointed at the Crocotta.

The beast looks at Xena, but for some reason she doesn’t get paralyzed anymore, even if she stares at its eyes. The beast nods over and over again, and Xena understands.

Slowly, Xena walks to the Crocotta.

“Xena… what are you doing?”, Gabrielle asks and sounds very worried.

“I’m making amends”, she answers.

She keeps her pace very slow. Finally, she reaches the Crocotta, who lowers its head and makes it possible for Xena to grab the chakram.

She does so, and, with a strong pull, the removes it from the crocotta’s skull. The beast looks at Xena, open its mouth and says with Gabrielle’s voice:

“Xena”

Xena smiles and says:

“That’s me”

With another howl from the Crocotta and its puppy, both of them turn around and run back to the forest. Now the warriors relax their positions and Gabrielle runs to Xena to grab her.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”, she asks, checking every inch of her friend.

“I’m fine, Gabrielle”, Xena answers. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Muddy escaped from me”, she responds. “And I had to get him back. Turns out… he’s a Crocotta”

“Yes, he is”, Xena smiles.

***

Xena holds Zewedu arm and shakes it.

“Xena, we don’t know how to thank you”, he says with a big smile. “You ended the bloodbath that haunted our tribe”

“Actually, Gabrielle did”, she looks at her friend. “We never know how angry a mom can get when she loses her son”

“We will keep that in mind”, Zewedu says. “Can we offer you anything?”

“Just some supplies for a long trip, if possible”, Xena responds.

“As you wish!”

“So you never really noticed the puppy had bone teeth?”, Joxer asks Gabrielle.

“I don’t go around checking  **_puppies’ teeth_ ** , Joxer; no one does that”, she rolls her eyes.

“But what about its fur? It was kind of stained like a hyena, wasn’t it?”, he goes on.

“It looked like an  **_ordinary_ ** puppy to me”, she defends herself. “And Xena can agree! She even caressed it! It didn’t seem like a Crocotta to you, did it?!”

“Sure didn’t”, she says.

Some women bring bags full of supplies to the three of them.

“Thank you very much”, Xena and Gabrielle say.

“Can we  **_please_ ** go back to Greece now?”, Joxer asks.

The two women exchange a fun look.

“Don’t you just love civilizations you never knew before?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“I really do”, Xena answers as they walk. “Those people are more civilized than any other, and will always be” 

***

The audience once again applauds Gabrielle with fervor. She is smiling.

***

Gabrielle is outside the tavern, leaning on a rail, staring at the sky. There is an old woman sitting on the floor next to her, she is smoking some sort of pipe. The sound from the tavern can be heard from outside; now they’re playing a folkloric song.

“Mind if I join you?”, Petra approaches, coming from inside the tavern.

Gabrielle looks at her and smiles.

“Not at all”, she answers.

“Thank you”, Petra leans just like Gabrielle and watches the sky as well. “I loved tonight’s story”

“I’m glad you did”

“Can I ask you something a little personal?”, and she turns to Gabrielle, hesitant.

Gabrielle only turns her head to her.

“Go ahead”, she says like nothing can affect her and she’s in utter peace.

“Why did you want to sharpen the chakram?”

Gabrielle wasn’t expecting that. She sighs, looks away and tries to think of an answer.

“It was  **_too_ ** personal, I’m sorry”, Petra says.

“No, I guess…”, Gabrielle finally turns to her. “I guess I… well, it’s silly, but I guess I want to keep it neat…  **_for her_ ** …”

Petra smiles sadly.

“I understand”, she speaks.

“Do you?”, Gabrielle asks without any further intention.

“I think I do”, she goes on. “If I had someone like you had Xena, and lost her, I wouldn’t want to move on for quite some time either”

That makes Gabrielle think. She furrows her brows for a moment and thinks with herself.

“You think I don’t  **_want_ ** to move on?”, her curiosity speaks louder.

“No, I mean, you  **_are_ ** moving on, I only meant that… you’re  **_grieving_ ** ”

“You expect me to  **_get rid_ ** of Xena’s stuff?”, Gabrielle takes an offended posture.

“Gabrielle, I’m sorry, I obviously don’t mean that…”, Petra tries to make amends.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have said anything”, the bard snaps.

Petra, regretful, says she’s sorry one more time and returns to the tavern.

Gabrielle shakes her head, disappointed at herself and her own behavior.

“I’m so stupid…”, she rubs her face.

The old woman smoking the pipe begins to cough with the smoke, and Gabrielle only looks at her.

“We’re all  **_so_ ** stupid”, the woman mumbles.

Gabrielle smirks.

“Can I talk to you?”, she asks the woman and sits on the floor next to her.

“You can talk to me, but I won’t pay attention to any word”, the woman answers.

“That’s fine, I just want to talk”

“Go ahead, then”

“Alright. Yes, we are all so stupid, but I know one person who isn’t and never was. Xena. She was never stupid. And I guess I still keep her chakram sharpened because I  **_hope_ ** she’ll come back somehow. If I learned something after all those years beside Xena, is that she is hard to remain dead. So, no, I  **_don’t_ ** really want to move on, because I have  **_hope_ ** ”

“Good for you”, the woman mumbles, uninterested.

Gabrielle smiles. She feels hopeful. She looks at the sky and sees the stars.

“Xena, I know you can hear me”, she speaks. “You may come back, or you may never return. You would tell me to move on and to create a life of my own. I’m doing the second, but the first I don’t believe to be possible. I’m keeping you alive, in a manner of speaking. I am keeping  **_both of us_ ** alive by doing that”

The old woman coughs again, and Gabrielle looks at her.

“You really should stop smoking”, she says.

“My grandma lived until she was 80”, the woman answers.

“Smoking?”

“No, taking care of her own business”

The woman starts to get up and begins to slowly walk away.

“Crazy girl talking to the stars…”, she groans.

Gabrielle only chuckles a little. She looks to the stars and sees that one winks at her.

***

Dimitrios and the other ones are copying Gabrielle’s scrolls.

“Gabrielle seems to be living those stories as she tells them”, Alec speaks with admiration. “It’s wonderful”

“I think she’s stuck on the past”, Petra says.

“How come, Petra?”, Dimitrios asks.

Petra shrugs.

“She still has Xena’s chakram…”, she answers.

“Who  **_wouldn’t_ ** want to have Xena’s chakram?!”, Niko exclaims. “It’s a relic!”

“And so shiny”, Dimitrios smiles.

Petra just smiles and nods.

“I guess you don’t see Gabrielle the way I do”, she speaks lowly, only to herself, no one else hears.

She sighs and looks to nothing specific. Then, she grabs one of Gabrielle’s parchment and sits down to copy it to a blank one, like the others are doing.

**END OF EPISODE #2**


	3. Episode 03 - Flying horses

**EPISODE #3, “** **FLYING HORSES** **”.**

“I think this place will do for the night”, Xena says as she ties Argo on a branch. The sun is going down and Gabrielle is walking with her amazon staff.

“So what’s the criteria here?”, Gabrielle asks as she stops. “It’s not the view, because all we can see is woods and more woods. It’s not the space, because we’ll get poked by dry leaves during our sleep. So what is the criteria here, Xena?”

Xena rolls her eyes.

“There is no criteria, Gabrielle”, she starts unrolling the furs in which they sleep.

“Come on”, the blonde-haired woman insists. “There’s always a reason for everything that you do”

“Not this time”, Xena responds. “I just see that the sun is setting and find a branch to tie Argo’s reins on”

“ **_Ha, there it is!_ ** ”, Gabrielle is triumphant. “I knew it! The criteria is the perfect branch”

Xena rolls her eyes.

“Whatever works for you”, she says. 

“It  **_does_ ** work for me”, Gabrielle responds.

“You know what else would work for you?”, Xena smirks. “Going to gather dry sticks to make a good fire”

Gabrielle narrows her eyes and starts to walk away, when a sudden light shines – it’s the light of the gods – and  **_HADES_ ** , the god of the underworld, appears right in front of them.

Xena draws her sword, but doesn’t point it at him. They have some history.

“Xena, I’m glad I caught you before you went to sleep”, he says.

“Hades”, Xena speaks, and Gabrielle is impressed with the god. “To what do I give the honor of your presence?”, she’s ironic.

“Well, Xena, you see…”, he starts to walk around and motion. “I came here to honor  **_you_ ** ”

“ **_What are you talking about?_ ** ”, she has despise in her voice.

“I just finished updating the death count – or rather… my slaves did… - and guess what? Turns out that the person who sent me the highest numbers of deaths in those past few years is…”, he gestures at her. “Xena, the destroyer of nations”

Xena is hurt, it’s visible on her eyes. She swallows dry and speaks with rage:

“I am not that person anymore”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that”, he says and smiles. “I am  **_very well_ ** aware of that. Still, I have to maintain my tradition and congratulate you”

“I don’t want your congratulations”

Gabrielle can see that Xena is losing her temper.

“You still haven’t heard of  **_how_ ** I will congratulate you”

“I don’t care”

“I’ll give you two wishes”, he makes the numbers with his fingers.

“ **_Two?_ ** ”, Gabrielle jumps in. “Why not three?”

“Because it’s too cliché”, he turns back to Xena. “You can wish for anything you want, Xena. Except for changing the past, which of course you know that can’t be done”

Xena sheathes back her sword.

“I don’t want anything from you”, she says.

“Really?”, Hades asks. “You could ask for… a harmless memory loss, how good would that be?”, he surrounds her and walks around her being mysterious. “For you or for everyone else. The world could forget about Xena,  **_the destroyer of nations_ ** ”

Xena doesn’t speak, which means she is really considering his offer.

“You wouldn’t carry this guilt on your shoulders. I can see inside you, I can see it weighs you down”, he puts his hands on her shoulders and massage them. “Just imagine how good it would be living your life, knowing that no one will ever blame you again or seek revenge against you, because no one remembers you? You can finally have the life you always wanted”

Xena is very much still and her eyes are lost somewhere in front of her.

“I don’t want anything from you”, she speaks again, slowly and angrily.

Hades takes his hands off her.

“Well, alright”, he says. “I’ll give you a couple of days to think about it. If you really decide to decline it, I’ll take them back. But in the meantime, they’re your two wishes to be used” 

Xena doesn’t say anything. She keeps staring at him with her death look.

“See you soon, my favorite killer”, and he disappears.

Xena looks around, seeming hurt. Gabrielle walks to her and grabs her arm.

“Are you okay?”, she asks with concern.

“I am”, Xena answers, trying to dismiss the bad feeling. “What he offered is very tempting… people forgetting about me”

“This is up to you, Xena”, Gabrielle says. “This is really up to you. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you”

Xena looks at Gabrielle with love and smiles at her.

“Always by my side, huh, Gabrielle?”

“ **_Always_ ** ”, Gabrielle takes her hand and gently kisses it. Xena caresses Gabrielle’s cheek and admires her beautiful face.

“Come on, let’s get those sticks to make a fire”

***

Gabrielle wakes up and it’s still dark. Xena is already up, with her eyes focused on something beyond. She’s looking to the fire she just remade.

“Oh, it’s still dark”, Gabrielle says with a sleepy voice. “Thank the gods; I could use more sleep”

“No, Gabrielle”, Xena says. “It is morning. It’s the  **_sun_ ** that never rose”

Gabrielle looks at Xena with confusion, and Xena stares at the horizon with narrowed, bit wise, eyes.

***INTRO PLAYS***

“Where are we going?”, Gabrielle asks as she walks beside Xena, both of them holding a torch to illuminate their way in the darkness. Xena is pulling Argo by the reins.

“Mount Olympus”, she answers. “We need to know what is happening here”

“You mean  **_the_ ** Mount Olympus?”, Gabrielle asks, surprised. “The house of the gods? Can mortals even get there?”

“I guess we will find out”, she smirks.

“You know, you could use one of the wishes Hades gave you and wish that everything goes back to normal”

“I could”, Xena speaks. “But only if we can’t fix this ourselves. And we could use some adventure, couldn’t we?”

Gabrielle smiles with the challenge.

***

As they slowly walk among the trees, they see a temple that is crowded with people. Some people run by them screaming: “THE GODS HAVE FORGOTTEN US”, or “IT IS OUR DOOM, WE WILL ALL DIE”, or “THE GODS WILL HAVE NO MERCY”. 

Xena looks at Gabrielle with one eyebrow raised, and Gabrielle does the same.

***

“Here we are”, Gabrielle says as she stares to the huge mountain which edge is covered with mist and clouds. “The famous Mount Olympus. Where no mortal ever goes. But that’s only a mere detail and shall not stand in the way of  **_Xena_ ** , the warrior princess”

“You think too much of me”, Xena says as she ties Argo to a branch. “I’ll back in a couple of days; it’s quite a hike up there”

“ **_What?!_ ** ”, Gabrielle gets indignant. “I’m not going with you?”

“It’s not that I don’t think you can go, because I know you are good at hikes”, Xena says as she gets ready. She ties a bag of water to her waist and puts on a backpack. “But I’ll do this faster. I’ll climb without pauses”

“I thought we were past this… but apparently, we’re not”, Gabrielle crosses her arms.

Xena turns to her to explain further, but the blonde-haired woman just raises her hand and joins Argo.

“I know, I know. Just go, I’ll be here, waiting”

Xena sighs and nods. She begins the hiking.

***

It’s quite a hike, as Xena said. She jumps from stone to stone; she flips and makes her own jumpy moves that only she can perform. She cries her war battle. Time passes, the stars change their positions, and so does the moon, indicating that time goes by.

***

After some time, Xena gets to the Mount Olympus. It’s a greek, beautiful place, with pillars, perfect temperature, illumination from torches, amazing paintings on the walls. Everything is neat and very clear. Then, Xena spots one person – or rather, one god – sitting by himself on the edge of the temple, looking down at people. Looking down at all the cities and villages that have their fire on.

“Apollo”, Xena greets him, and he turns his head, surprised with her presence.

“ **_Xena?!_ ** ”, he says. “ **_How_ ** did you- how- you know what, I don’t even care”, and he turns to look at the people down the mountain.

“Apollo, what happened?”, she joins him and she kneels beside him.

“It’s… Bronte”, he says.

“One of your flying horses?”

“Yes. He… he disappeared”, Apollo answers. “ **_Why_ ** did I have to come to Olympus this time? I should have gone to the Sun Stables, as every night. But  **_no_ ** … I wanted to come here and visit my brothers and sisters, who are  **_not even here_ ** ”

“So one of your horses is missing, so what?”, Xena speaks. “Why didn’t you fly with only three horses pulling your sun chariot?”

“ **_Because_ ** ”, he turns to her, angry. “Because it has never been done with only three horses. Since the beginning of our existence, since  **_Helios_ ** , there were always four horses. I don’t know what the consequences could be if I only did this with three”

“I see”, Xena seems to think. “What about the other gods? Where  **_are_ ** they?”

“Dealing with their own business, apparently”

“So the fact that the sun didn’t rise isn’t a problem to them?”, Xena is indignant.

“Why would they care?”, Apollo says. “All they do is sleep with mortals and create more and more creepy demigods”

Xena buffs a laugh.

“That can’t be denied”, she speaks. “Where are the rest of your horses?”

“At the stables I created for them”, he points over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Can I take a look?”

“Yes, I’ll show you”

Apollo stands up and leads Xena to the stables. It’s a beautiful place, with clean hay everywhere, some carrots and lots of water. There are all very white and have beautiful golden ornaments around them.

“Bronte was here with them?”, Xena asks as she caresses one of the horses.

“Yes”, the god responds and points to a private place on the stables. “That’s his stall”

Xena walks to the stall he indicated, sees that the door is open, and goes inside it. She walks around looking for tracks. She bends down, gets some of the hay and smells it.

“There’s a different smell here”, she says. “A weird,  **_goat_ ** smell”

“ **_Goat smell_ ** ?”, Apollo approaches. “That can’t be. My horses never mingle”

“Well, I might be wrong, but there’s definitely something off here”, she throws the hay back to the ground and gets up.

“You don’t think he escaped?”, asks Apollo.

“What do  **_you_ ** think?”, Xena answers, sharp. “He has been loyal to you all those years. All of a sudden, he disappears. No, I don’t think he escaped. I think he was  **_taken_ ** ”

“Who would do such thing?!”, Apollo is shocked.

“You tell me”, Xena crosses her arms. “Who are your enemies?”

Apollo giggles.

“Half of the world, you could say”

“That narrows it down, thanks”, Xena rolls her eyes and walks back to the great saloon.

Apollo follows her.

“I-I don’t know, Xena, honestly”, he says with open arms. “I’m at peace with most people”

“When you think of someone, come to me”, she tells him. “I’ll ask around, see if people who live close to the mountain saw anything”

“Alright, that sounds good”, he follows. “Thank you, Xena”

“Sounds better than looking down at mortals and waiting for a miracle”, she condemns him.

“Well, you  **_did_ ** show up, didn’t you?”, he smiles.

“I guess I did”, she turns to him. “Could you send me down there? I am tired from all the hiking”

“Absolutely, just tell me where”

“The foot of the mountain, East side”

“I thought you were going to the villagers”, he gesticulates.

“I will, but I have to meet a friend and get  **_my_ ** horse”

Apollo raises one eyebrow.

“You don’t have to  **_brag_ ** , you know”

They share a smile, and Apollo snaps his fingers. Next thing, Xena appears in front of Gabrielle, who is sitting against a tree, writing on her scrolls under the light of a torch.

“Xena!”, Gabrielle speaks, stands up and rolls back her scroll. “I was **_just_ ** writing about our time with Goliath. What a crazy adventure… wait, I didn’t hear you at all”, she stares with a confused face.

“I was very very quiet”, Xena kids. “Come on, we have work to do”

She goes to Argo, but Gabrielle follows her and stops her throwing hands at her.

“Wait”

Xena looks at her with utter estrangement.

“What?”

“Can I guess what happened?”

Xena turns to her and sighs.

“Go ahead”

“Okay, hmmm, so…”, Gabrielle pretends she is thinking very hard. “I think… and I only  **_think_ ** , of course… my brain can be quite a tricky little organ, but… I think that one of Apollo’s horses was stolen by someone, and therefore he hasn’t been able to fly across the sky bringing the sun with him and his chariot”

Xena looks at her, astonished.

“How could you know that?!”, she asks.

Gabrielle is smiling and feeling triumphant.

“I took some walks around the mountain and came across some distinct horse footprints. Then I thought to myself: which kind of horse would step on grass and  **_burn it?_ ** The horses of the god of sun, of course”

“Well done”, Xena smiles.

“But there’s just one thing… Apollo’s horses  **_fly_ ** , don’t they? So why the footprints?”

“That is a very good question”, Xena says. “Could be for many reasons. The person who stole it could be afraid of flying. Alternatively, the horse would not obey him or her. The only thing we need to do now is follow those footprints. Where did you find them?”

“Here, follow me”, Gabrielle starts walking, and Xena goes to Argo to ride her.

Except Argo neighs and moves back. Xena finds her reaction strange.

“What is it, girl?”, she asks.

She tries to grab the reins and calm Argo down.

“What’s going on?”, Gabrielle inquires, looking at them.

“I don’t know, Argo doesn’t let me r-…  **_Oh_ ** ”, Xena understands. “It’s because I’ve been petting other horses, isn’t it?”

Argo neighs again and nods.

“Argo, I only met Apollo’s horses but I swear I didn’t ride any of them”, Xena explains with much emotion. Then she touches Argo.

“What, she’s, she’s  **_jealous?_ ** ”, Gabrielle asks and puffs a laugh.

Xena shoots her a look.

“Don’t you know her by now? Of course she’s jealous”, she responds and caresses Argo’s face. “But we are good now, aren’t we? We are good because she knows I am loyal to her, as she is to me”

Xena smiles at the horse and the horse makes an approving noise. Xena then rides her with a big smile.

“That’s my girl”, she says.

“Sometimes you say that to me too”, Gabrielle speaks to Xena. “Wait… who do you like more? Me or Argo?”

“Oh, Gabrielle”, Xena says. “Don’t make me choose”, and she hits the horse’s flanks with the heels of her boots and rides away. Gabrielle is left alone with an indignant, fun, angry look.

***

Gabrielle and Xena are following the burnt horse footprints on the grass with the help of torches, because everything is completely dark. Suddenly, they see themselves surrounded by men, mercenaries, with torches as well.

The leader approaches with a big, black smile.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Xena, the warrior princess”, he says.

“Do I know you?”, she asks him, with no patience for his games.

“You don’t and you won’t, but the world will”, he answers. “I’ll be known as the man who killed Xena!”

“Here we go again…”, Gabrielle sighs and gets in fighting position.

“More like the man who  **_tried_ ** to kill Xena, but instead got a big, ugly scar”, with her war cry, Xena jumps out of Argo and lands in front of him.

The fighting begin. Gabrielle and her staff drop down plenty of warriors, but it is Xena who’s dealing with the majority of them. She has her sword on her hand, her chakram on the other, and is fighting beautifully with kicks, punches with the sword handle, cuts with the sharp weapons. She jumps and does backflips, frontflips; she kicks all the men by walking on them the way she does. At last, she gives the leader a deep cut on his leg and he falls down, yelling of pain. All the other men are down or retreating back to the trees.

“I told you”, Xena sheathes her sword.

“Why…”, Gabrielle is gasping. “Why do they always do that?”

“That’s my life”, Xena speaks.

“It could  **_not_ ** be anymore, just saying”, Gabrielle mentions Hade’s wish.

“Alright, let’s continue”, she gets Argo’s reins and they start walking again.

***

Finally, they reach a part of the forest that makes Xena stop. She looks around, suspicious.

“What is it?”, Gabrielle asks in a whisper.

“It’s the same smell that I felt at Apollo’s stables”, Xena says. “We’re not alone here”

She gets her sword and Gabrielle looks around with her staff ready on her hands.

Argo suddenly neighs loudly, rears, escapes from Xena’s hold and runs away through the forest, out of sight.

“Argo!”, Xena screams after her, but she obviously doesn’t come back.

“Humans”, they hear a voice, but see nothing.

“I like humans”, another voice says.

“I hate them, they smell”, another one.

“Who’s there?!”, Xena asks, and gently stands in front of Gabrielle to protect her.

“She seems strong”, the voice says.

“You think she’ll play with us?”

“She has no other choice”

“Show yourselves  **_now_ ** !”, Xena demands.

“Uh, she’s nervous”, a voice giggles.

Suddenly, three figures jump in front of them. Slowly, they come closer to the light of the torch and Xena and Gabrielle can see they are  **_satyrs_ ** ; mythical creatures half goats half men. They don’t look mean, but they do have creepy smiles on their faces.

“Satyrs!”, Gabrielle exclaims, impressed.

“Greetings, humans”, the dark-haired one says. “My name is Khatos. These are Plinius and Grobslo”

The blonde-haired satyr, which is Plinius, waves with his hand, and Grobslo, the red-haired one winks at them.

“Hi”, Gabrielle says, kind of hesitant.

“What do you want?”, Xena asks.

“Wow, calm down!”, Khatos says. “No hostility! We just want to have some fun!”

“We don’t have time for this”, Xena says and keeps walking.

“Hang on a second”, Khatos goes in front of her and stops her from walking further. “This is satyr territory. You can’t walk in there without our permission”

“Oh, yeah?”, Xena asks. “Watch me”

“Stop!”, Grobslo is basically begging her. “We are so many in there, so many, and we fight when we have to. Please, don’t make us kill you two. I like you”

“Xena, Xena”, Gabrielle goes to her friend. “Don’t… they’re playful creatures, they don’t mean any harm. You know the myths of the satyrs”

Xena considers and rolls her eyes.

“Alright”, she turns to Khatos. “Will you give us your permission to enter your territory?”

“Yes!”, he says.

“See?”, Gabrielle smiles.

“With one condition”, he goes on, and Xena looks at Gabrielle with narrowed eyes. “You have to… play with us! And win, of course. If you lose, you’re not crossing our territory  **_and_ ** we will get to kiss you”

Gabrielle makes a disgusted face.

“First I want to know one thing”, Xena says. “Did you steal Bronte, one of Apollo’s flying horses?”

“Of course not”, the blonde-haired one answers and seems offended. “Why would we steal a horse? Is this what is causing the endless night? Because let me tell you, I  **_hate_ ** darkness, I completely hate it, we all hate it… We hate horses and we hate darkness”

Gabrielle approaches Xena.

“You think they’re telling the truth?”, she asks in a whisper.

“Yeah, they’re telling the truth alright”, Xena responds. “Fine, we will play your little game. But it better be  **_quick_ ** ”

The satyrs celebrate with some round dance, jumping forming a circle, and cheering.

“ **_Alright_ ** ”, Xena speaks in a demanding tone and they cut off their dance. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

***

The satyrs take them inside their own forest. It’s where the burnt footprints go to, and even cross all to the other side. They get to a structure that looks like a mini half-coliseum filled with plants that took over, and a stage; everything built in the middle of the forest. The coliseum is filled with satyrs of every way and shape; some of them have nymphs on their laps that they’re playing with, some are eating some grapes, other are fighting in a playful way with each other.

“By the gods; they really  **_are many_ ** ”, Gabrielle exclaims as she sees that and gets impressed.

Plinius opens his arms and calls the attention of everyone as they all walk to the “stage”.

“My brothers, my brothers!”, he says. “Listen to me! We have some guests!”

The satyrs look at Xena and Gabrielle, smile and cheer.

“And, like every other guest, they agreed to play with us!”

More celebration.

“Like we had a choice”, Gabrielle mumbles.

“They have to beat us at three tasks”, Plinius goes on. “And the first one is… a race!”

The audience of satyrs go nuts.

“Guess we know who’s competing on this first task”, Gabrielle bumps her shoulder on Xena’s.

“One of them will race against…  **_me_ ** !”, Plinius says.

“And that is Xena!”, Gabrielle takes Xena’s wrist and raises it up to the sky.

The satyrs cheer again.

“Thank you for the introduction, Gabrielle”, Xena stares at her with a fake smile.

Gabrielle smiles back, feeling joyful.

“Let’s all get prepared”, Plinius says and they get off scene.

***

Xena and Gabrielle are under a tent made of leaves of trees, and Xena is removing the armor from her leather.

“Ok, remember, Plinius said you have to beat him, and there will be some obstacles”, Gabrielle is saying. “First, it’s a race until the river. Then, you have to cross the river swimming, and let me tell you, I bet it’s a  **_heavy_ ** flow. He said after the river you’ll get to a part of the forest made of stones, and you can only step on the flat, round ones. To be honest, he didn’t even have to say that if they’re the only stones over a field of swamp. Basically, just focus on  **_not_ ** falling down into the swamp”

“Yes, Gabrielle”, Xena sighs because she already knows everything her friend is saying.

“After the stone swamp, you’ll get to a dense part of the forest and must swing from vine to vine, without touching the ground, until you finally reach the winner’s torch and draw your initial – the X – with it in the air so we all see who’s the winner! Sounds pretty simple to me”

“Of course it does”, Xena rolls her eyes.

“You’ll win this, Xena”

Xena stops and looks at her.

“Do you realize what a waste of time this is?”

“What? I don’t want to have the satyrs as my enemies… we might need them sometime in the future”

“I’m not worried about the satyrs”, Xena says. “I’m worried about people. Too much time without sunlight and they could go crazy…”

“We’ve been doing fine without the sunlight”, Gabrielle speaks.

“Gabrielle,  **_everything_ ** needs sunlight”, Xena contests her in a serious tone. “People, plants, animals… The lack of it can’t last for too long”

“You’re right”, Gabrielle speaks. “I have a theory about that. I think the air we breathe comes from the plants, with the help of sunlight”

Xena just looks at her with a confused face.

“Your theories get stranger and stranger as time passes by”

“Anyway, Xena”, Gabrielle speaks. “Please, we can’t turn them into our enemies. It’s just a silly contest and then we follow the burnt footprints, find the horse, return it to Apollo, and everything will be alright. Okay?”

Xena grumbles and a light shines between them, where Apollo, the god, appears.

“I thought I heard someone saying my name”, he says. “Xena, I came to see your progress”

“I’m working on it”, she responds, simply.

“Apollo, the god of music, truth, prophecy, the sun, the poetry, the-”, Gabrielle begins to say super excited, but Xena cuts her.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s the one”

“Oh, so this is your friend”, Apollo smiles at Gabrielle.

“My name is Gabrielle”, she says with a big smile.

“Pleased to meet you. I hope you both can work… faster… to find my dear Bronte”

“You know, you  **_yourself_ ** could go after your animal”, Xena snaps.

“No, I can’t”, Apollo.

“Why not?”, Gabrielle asks.

“I’m too sad”, he responds and brings a hand to his heart.

Gabrielle rolls her eyes and Xena smiles.

“I can see that”, Xena speaks.

“Well, Xena, when you bring him back, I’ll be happy”, Apollo approaches her and caresses her cheek. “And then maybe I can make  **_you_ ** happy”

Xena smiles and answers:

“Let’s see”

Gabrielle furrows her brows at this scene.

“I’ll leave you to your race”, Apollo says.

“Oh, so you do know every step of our way?”, Gabrielle asks.

“I’m a god, child. I know everything”, and with this, he disappears.

Gabrielle smirks.

“Can you believe this? How  **_lazy_ ** can gods be? Always sending mortals to do the dirty work. He definitely doesn’t know  **_everything;_ ** otherwise he’d know where his beloved horse is. And calling me a  **_child_ ** ? Why do people do that? And  **_hitting on you?!_ ** Is that a universal god thing?”

“What?”, Xena looks at her with a provocative smile and one eyebrow up. “Are you jealous?”

Gabrielle puffs a laughter and gets flushed.

“What, **_jealous_ ** ? Me? Of Apollo? Pff… No… I couldn’t care less about him… I don’t  **_want_ ** him…”

“Of me then?”, Xena goes on with the teasing.

Gabrielle just looks at her and bites her inner cheek. Before she can say anything, some horns are blown/played in beautiful harmony.

“This is it, Xena, the time has come!”, Gabrielle gets excited. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be”

***

All of the satyrs are gathered, they have some torches on their hands and some that are stuck to the ground to illuminate the surroundings. Plinius is jumping from leg to leg, warming up.

“Hey, Xena”, Grobslo approaches and points his finger to the darkness. “Look, there’s the winner’s torch”

Very far away, it’s visible a flaming light in the middle of the darkness. It is so because they are now on top of a hill, and the winner’s torch is all the way across the forest down below.

“How did you place it there so fast?”, Gabrielle asks.

“We have trained owls”, he answers with a smile.

Gabrielle and Xena exchange a look.

“Champions, get ready!”, someone yells.

Plinius and Xena get side by side, ready to take off to a race.

“Good luck, Xena!”, Gabrielle screams.

The satyrs begin to cheer louder and louder, and then a sound of a cornet is heard, and Plinius and Xena start running the fastest they can, side by side.

They ran and they enter the forest, so they can’t see anything. Plinius yells something, as if he just hit a tree, and Xena goes on running, letting out a laughter because she can see clearly with the moonlight. She runs, jumps, “flies”, screams her battle cry, and finally gets to the river.

She jumps on the water and starts swimming. She can hear a “splash” after her, which means Plinius is getting close. The flow is really heavy as Gabrielle pointed out, and they’re both struggling to cross the river. Suddenly, Xena hears another splash, and turns to look around. She sees some goat legs running back to the forest, but wonders what they threw in the river.

Finally, she feels it. It’s a fishing net that wraps around her legs and she can’t move right. She begins to fight and struggle against it.

“Plinius!”, she screams.

“Having problems, Xena?”, he smiles at her and swims past her.

“You are cheating!”

“Sorry, can’t hear you, am winning it, bye bye!”, and he finishes crossing the river.

Xena is taken by the flow as she dives down to get rid of the net. After much struggle, she finally frees herself and finishes swimming to the other side of the river.

“I’m done with those goats”, she says with rage and runs across the trees.

After that, she can see with the moonlight the field of swamp. It’s a deep swamp, but with some round and flat stones. She sees Plinius almost reaching the end of the swamp.

“You think you’re the only one who can play dirty?”, she asks in a low voice.

She steps heavily on the floor and a piece of wood that looks like a staff jumps up to her hand. She then uses it as a spear. She aims and, with all her strength, she throws it in his direction and begins running.

As she runs, the spear flies above her. As she steps on the rocks carefully not to fall, the spear flies above her. The spear passes her and shoots Plinius on his legs. He loses his balance and falls down to the swamp with a scream.

As he struggles to get rid of all the plants and mud, Xena runs past him and says:

“If you fall, you lose, but I have a feeling this doesn’t apply to  **_you_ ** , am I right?”

And she goes on running as the satyr screams in anger and pulls himself back to his feet.

Finally, she reaches the dense part of the forest and swings from vine to vine, just like Tarzan, but with more flips and more adventure than just that. She can hear Plinius behind her.

“Xeeenaaaa!”, he screams, and there is rage in his voice.

“Hate losing, do you?”, she screams back as she smiles and with a jump and her battle cry she lands perfectly in front of the torch.

Without giving it a second thought, she grabs the torch and draws an “X” in the air. She can hear the satyrs screaming and celebrating from far, far away.

Plinius reaches her, he is gasping for air, dirty, smelly and angry.

“You cheated!”, he yelled at her.

“Well, you cheated too”, she responds, looking at him with rage.

“Call it even?”, he suggests, all his anger gone in a blink of an eye.

Xena shrugs.

“Sounds good”

***

“The winner of the first contest is… XENA!”, one satyr lifts her hand and all the crowd goes crazy.

Gabrielle goes crazy with them.

“Now we shall rest and tomorrow another test will take place”, the satyr says.

“Which test?”, Xena asks.

“The competitors will have to tell the audience a story, and the best story wins!”

“Guess we know who’ll compete this time”, Xena opens her eyes to Gabrielle with a smirk.

Gabrielle only smiles back, discouraged.

***

The satyrs are getting ready to sleep, tangled up with nymphs. Gabrielle and Xena unroll some furs on the ground and lie on top of them. There’s a torch stuck to the ground close by.

“Don’t you think their eyes are extremely scary?”, Gabrielle asks Xena as she looks to the darkness and sees, in the middle of the darkness, the satyrs’ eyes shining, reflecting some light.

Xena looks and shrugs.

“I think they’re  **_endearing_ ** ”, she mocks.

“They are all looking at us…”

“Must have been a long time since they last had contact with any humans”, Xena speaks.

“May be”, she sighs and snuggles. “Who do you think stole the horse of Apollo?”

“I have my guesses”, Xena says. “After we’re done with the satyrs, I’ll have my confirmation”

“What, you’re not going to share it with me?”, Gabrielle sounds indignant.

“You’re smart. You’ll figure it out on your own”, Xena closes her eyes and smiles, enjoying herself with the provocation.

Gabrielle mumbles and grumbles with herself.

“I  **_will_ ** figure it out on my own, you know”, she says aggressively to Xena.

“I never doubted ya”

“I don’t have time for this just now; I need to think of the most incredible story to tell those satyrs”, and she lays back down, looking at the stars that are shining so bright above them all.

“Do you have anything in mind?”, Xena asks.

“I have  **_too much_ ** in mind”, Gabrielle responds. “Which is why it’s so difficult. I can’t just choose one story, because I remember of another amazing thing that happened on another story, and that’s the endless cycle”

“You know, Gabrielle, I think it won’t matter much”, Xena says.

“ **_What?!_ ** ”, Gabrielle furrows her brows.

“They’re satyrs, and they’re obviously pranksters”, she answers. “And kind of  **_stupid_ ** . All they think about is nymphs and mischievous acts. I’m not sure they would know how to appreciate your story the right way”

“Huh”, Gabrielle puffs a laugh. “I think you’re underestimating them. I am 100% sure they’re going to love my detailed, romantic and deep narrative”

“Gabrielle, it was  **_you_ ** who wanted to deal with those goats”, Xena looks at her. “Just, trust me. Let them tell their story first and see for yourself”

Gabrielle shrugs.

“That much I can do”

“Thanks. Now, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long night”

They both close their eyes and fall asleep.

***

“Uh, waking up and it still being night is the worst thing”, Gabrielle rubs her eyes as she gets up.

“I made us breakfast”, Xena speaks as she approaches the blonde-haired woman with a bowl of porridge.

Gabrielle looks impressed and accepts the food.

“Thank you”, she takes the spoon and begins to eat. “This is so good. How did you… how did you make this?”

“I broke in a nymph gathering and they gave me some”, she eats some of her own.

“ **_Nymphs_ ** made this? I didn’t know they could cook”

“It seems like the satyrs need to eat real food sometimes”, Xena smirks and Gabrielle giggles.

Some drums are heard, and Xena and Gabrielle look back. They see some satyrs are already gathering at that half coliseum, taking their seats, eating some corn, having small food wars.

“Looks like the story contest is about to start”, Gabrielle says.

“Finish your breakfast first. Satyrs can wait”, Xena speaks.

***

Xena and Gabrielle approach the coliseum that is illuminated by loads of torches and they take a seat on the back row.

“Ladies and gentlemen”, one other satyr speaks loudly, and the mess becomes silence. “We are here because our story telling competition is about to start!”

The crowd goes nuts and Gabrielle giggles while Xena rolls her eyes and seems annoyed.

“The human Gabrielle will compete against our best story teller, Lavios!”

And the crowd goes crazy again when one satyr jumps acrobatically to the stage and opens his arms waiting for acclamation. He is Lavios, more of age, grey.

Gabrielle gets close to Xena to whisper:

“See, he looks like a decent, old satyr. I’m sure his story will be very interesting and he’ll be a great competitor”

Xena only looks at her with a smirk.

“Let’s see about that”

“Gabrielle, would you want to begin?”, the satyr that is hosting asks her.

“No, thank you; Lavios can go first”, she responds with a loud tone for him to hear.

“As the lady wishes”, the host speaks. “May the best story win!”

The satyrs in the crowd clap, whistle, and cheer.

The host gets off stage and leaves Lavios by himself. So, he begins:

“Once upon a time, there was a satyr named Satyr”

The crowd bursts in laughter, and Xena and Gabrielle exchange a look.

“He met a nymph called Nymph”, Lavios goes on, and the crowd of satyrs laughs their lungs off intensely.

“ **_By the gods_ ** ”, Gabrielle whispers.

“Told you”, Xena speaks with joy and stretches, getting comfortable on her seat.

Lavios continues:

“When they mate, Nymph gets pregnant, and after a couple months, she gives birth to a son. The son’s name was…”

“ **_SON!_ ** ”, the satyrs on the crowd yell to him and fall down laughing, holding their own bellies and shaking their hooves up to the night sky.

“You’re right, his name was Son!”, Lavios says and laughs himself. He even cleans a tear that rolls down his cheek.

“Nymphs only get pregnant for two months?”, Gabrielle asks Xena.

“Apparently”, she answers.

“And then Son got together with another Nymph, but her name wasn’t Nymph this time, it was Fythie. They liked to walk around and eat wild berries, and  **_mate_ ** ”

Once again, the satyrs exploded with laughter.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes and Xena let out a chuckle.

“Are you  **_enjoying_ ** this?”, Gabrielle asks.

“It’s actually kinda fun”

The blonde-haired woman shakes her head in disbelief.

“You were right, Xena”, she says. “I’ll have to adapt”

“You sure will, Gabrielle. You sure will”

“And Fythie got pregnant too!”, Lavios continues. “Do you all know the name of the baby?”

“ **_LAVIOS!_ ** ”, they all screamed in union.

“That is right! It’s me! I’m the grandson of Satyr and son of Son!”

“This is worse than I thought”, Gabrielle whispers.

“Boy, this is my favorite story!”, one satyr that is sitting beside them cleans his eyes from the tears he’s spilling because he’s laughing too much, alongside with all the other satyrs.

“You mean you all heard this story before?”, Gabrielle asks the satyr.

“Are you kidding me? Lavios tells us this story every week since he was born! It’s everyone’s favorite”, he responds.

Gabrielle and Xena exchange one more look. Xena is visibly amused by all that.

“And that’s my story! The end”, Lavios ends.

The entire crowd gets up clapping, screaming, whistling and jumping.

The entire crowd gets up clapping, screaming, whistling and jumping. Lavios says his thanks and the host takes over his place on the stage again.

“Well, this one will be hard to beat”, he speaks. “Are you sure you want to compete, Gabrielle? You can just give up and give us some kisses”

The satyrs around them make kissing lips with noises and approach to kiss them.

Xena simply punches one in the face, which falls down, passed out, and Gabrielle stands up, yelling:

“I will compete!”

All the satyrs retreat and scream in excitement.

Gabrielle makes her way to the stage.

“You go, Gabrielle!”, Xena yells and claps, smiling big, finding it super fun in a mocking way.

“The stage is yours”, the satyr host leaves Gabrielle alone, facing dozens of satyr faces, and nymphs, and Xena.

“Um…”, she is nervous and fidgeting. She looks at Xena, who then gives her a reassuring look, and regains her confidence. “Once upon a time… there was a village that was burning with fire”

The satyrs are quiet, and everything is silent. One cough can be heard.

“So, one good giant that was passing by heard all the screams and ran to the village to help them”, Gabrielle goes on. “He saw that the village was catching fire and there was nothing he could do. But he thought of something”

The satyrs seem interested, and so does Xena, who leans forward, intrigued.

“He thought he could put out the fire by himself. So, you know what he did?”, Gabrielle interacts with the crowd.

“He vomited on all of them?”, one satyr tries, and everyone laughs.

“No!”, Gabrielle smiles. “He felt very gassy. Then, he put his pants down, aimed his… butt to the village, and let out the biggest fart of his life!”, she is imitating the giant’s moves.

The crowd bursts in laughter. They all begin laughing so much, so loudly, so much more than with Lavios. Lavios himself is laughing a lot, and Xena only chuckles.

“But! The fart didn’t extinguish the fire. No, it made it worse!”, Gabrielle continues, and the crowd never stops laughing. “Instead of putting it down, the fart set all the remaining houses and part of the forest on big fire!”

She herself is laughing because she’s happy she’s entertaining the audience.

“So, the giant ran to the next lake a jumped on it! It created a big wave that finally put the fire down. But only the goats survived!”

The crowd cheers and claps. Everyone is super happy and laughing. They’re celebrating as if she already won.

“The end!”, she bows and everyone laughs even more.

The host takes her place as she goes back to Xena’s side.

“So, how did you like my story, huh?”, she asks her.

“It was just perfect for the moment and perfect for the audience”, Xena caresses her shoulder.

“I think we have our winner!”, the host says.

“It sure is Gabrielle!”, Lavios yells.

Everyone claps and celebrates.

Plinius isn’t even mad, he is still laughing.

“Well done”, Xena tells Gabrielle.

***

Xena and Gabrielle approach Plinius and the other satyrs.

“Well, Plinius, I think we earned our way into your territory”, Xena says.

“Not just yet”, he says with a playful tone.

“What are you talking about?”, Gabrielle asks. “Xena won the race and I won the story telling competition”

“Yes, but there is one more thing you need to do to earn our permission”, he giggles.

Xena puts her hands on her waist and starts to lose patience.

“And what is that?”, she arches one eyebrow.

“One second”, he says and forms a circle with the other satyrs to discuss the options.

They whisper and whisper and laugh and scream, and even dance a little. Gabrielle and Xena only watch them, exchanging some looks occasionally. Finally, the satyrs turn to them.

“You have one more final task”, he speaks. “You need to bring us… a piece… of…”, and he starts laughing. “…the  **_MOON_ ** !”

And all the satyrs laugh away alongside with him.

“This is impossible”, Gabrielle shakes her head.

“No, it’s not”, Xena smiles cockily at the satyrs. “Hades?”

She calls for the god of the dead, and with that known light, he appears in front of them.

“You called, Xena?”, he grins at her.

The satyrs get super scared and kneel before the god. They whisper and whisper, and mumble all together in one voice:

“Hades, the god of the underworld, we salute you; welcome to our territory…”

“Shut up”, he says to them, and they do.

“What is it? Decided to use one of the wishes?”, he asks to Xena.

“That’s right”, she speaks. “I want a piece of the moon”

“Xena”, Gabrielle pokes her. “Are you sure you want to use one wish to ask for  **_that_ ** ?”

“I sure am, Gabrielle”, Xena speaks normally.

“A piece of the moon?”, Hades is intrigued.

“Exactly”.

“Well…”, Hades makes a movement with his hand and a rock oddly shaped appears on it. “There you go”

Xena takes it from his hand, examines it, and says.

“Thanks. You can go now”

“You’re bold, Xena, but I like that”, Hades smiles at her and disappears.

Xena throws the rock on the satyrs.

“There. A piece of the moon. Now…”, she draws her sword and points at them (they’re getting up, appreciating the stone as if it’s pure gold). “Either you give us permission to enter your territory, or I kill every last one of you until your ‘territory’ becomes no one’s land”

“Y-you have our permission!”, Plinius says, with his eyes focused only on the stone. “Brothers! We have a godly stone!!! We have a sacred stone! It’s a moon stone! Let’s celebrate it!”

And he and all the satyrs begin playing instruments and dancing away in the darkness.

Xena rolls her eyes and says to Gabrielle:

“Now let’s find Bronte”

***

Gabrielle and Xena follow the burnt grass until they lead to a place far away. They finally start hearing something, it’s a beautiful melody played by a pipe, a flute that was made of little tubes placed one beside the other one. A pan’s flute. The melody is sad, but lovely.

“Xena-”, Gabrielle is about to say, but Xena only places her finger on her lips, motioning to Gabrielle to be quiet.

They walk some more through the forest and the music becomes louder. Finally, Xena puts aside some leaves and they see a figure sitting on a big rock, on top of a hill, from which the whole valley can be seen. The figure is playing the pipe/flute, looking to the valley, which means he has his back to Xena and Gabrielle. It’s visible, however, that he has some great horns on his head. Curly and pointing to the sky. He, too, is a satyr himself, but a very special one.

A white, marvelous horse is leaning against the foot of a big tree, sleeping soundly. 

“That’s Bronte”, Gabrielle whispers. “But… who’s that?”

“That is  **_Pan_ ** , the god of wilderness and music”, Xena answers.

“Of course”, Gabrielle says. “ **_Of course!_ ** He wants revenge on Apollo!”

“Seems like it”

Slowly, Xena and Gabrielle come out of the bushes and approach Pan. His melody, so incredibly beautiful, stops playing as he notices their presence.

“Pan”, Xena says. “That horse does not belong to you”

Pan slowly turns his head to the two of them. He has singular features. It’s visible he is very sad.

“I don’t care about that”, he answers. “Taking one of Apollo’s beloved horses from him makes him miserable, like me. And that’s what I want”

“It’s not about Apollo anymore”, Xena speaks. “It’s about the  **_world_ ** . It will die without the sunlight, Pan; you know better than that”

The horse keeps sleeping, and Pan considers her words.

“But Apollo… must suffer”, he says.

“Everyone knows about the musical duel”, Gabrielle is the one to speak now. “Between you and Apollo. They say that when you played your pipe, the animals left their lairs to come and hear you. They say that even the  **_trees_ ** leaned forward to hear your music”

Pan chuckles with sadness.

“It was a beautiful moment”, he responds.

“They also say that when Apollo played his golden lyre, the whole audience fell under his spell”, Gabrielle goes on. “And that’s the only reason he won. Can’t you see?  **_You_ ** played fairly and everyone loved it. But Apollo… he used his powers as god. He  **_cheated_ ** , and that’s why he beat you”

“That is the truth”, Pan says and turns around to look at them. “He still won”

“Does that even matter?”, Xena asks. “Inside, you know that  **_you_ ** were the one to win that day. You are a better musician than Apollo, and if you, yourself, know that, nothing else matters”

Pan gets up and walks with his goat legs to the horse. He squats and caresses him.

“I will not return the horse to Apollo”, he says.

Xena draws her sword.

“Then you leave me no other choice”, she speaks.

“Wait!”, Gabrielle places herself between the two of them. They look at her; Xena is annoyed and Pan intrigued. “I’m sure there’s a way we can solve this without violence…”

“There is”, Pan stands up, and how tall he is impresses Gabrielle. He definitely is no ordinary satyr. “If Apollo competes with me again, without using his powers, I will return his horse”

Xena turns her head to the side.

“Did you hear that?”, she asks.

It seems that she is talking to no one, but suddenly, Apollo appears, with his arms crossed.

“I did”, he answers and stares at Pan with rage. “You filthy thief. How  **_dare_ ** you steal my horse?”

“I merely played my pipe and he followed me”, Pan responds. “It’s not my fault your animals recognize beautiful music better than their owner when they hear it”

Apollo just sighs.

“You still think your music is better than mine, don’t you?”, he asks.

Pan nods.

“I accept your rematch proposal”, Apollo says with a smirk.

“And you won’t use your powers when you play the lyre?”, Gabrielle asks him.

Apollo looks at her angrily.

“I don’t need my powers to prove myself”, he snaps.

“Then it’s settled”, Xena sheathes her sword.

***

Apollo and Pan are on the center of the stage of the little coliseum of the satyrs. Not only are the satyrs on the audience, but also some nymphs, animals and other mythical creatures. Xena and Gabrielle too; they’re taking care of Bronte.

The two gods stare at each other with rage. Pan is much bigger than Apollo, who takes only a human shape.

Apollo starts playing first this time. He plays his lyre beautifully, and everyone is enchanted by the melody. It’s wonderful and truly quite a song to be heard. The nymphs leave their partners satyrs behind and approach the stage to hear him better, and to appreciate his ethereal beauty. When he finished it, everyone applauds and cheers. He bows in acceptance and looks at Pan.

It’s Pan’s turn. He doesn’t choose a happy song this time, but a melancholic one. So extremely beautiful that some deer get close; the squirrels leave their trees to come closer; the satyrs and the nymphs make utter silence and they close their eyes to listen better. Gabrielle and Xena are like that too.

Finally, the trees make a sound, and Gabrielle turns to see that they are, indeed, leaning forward the most they can, and her mouth drops open, as she gets impressed.

When Pan stops playing, the audience is silent. Some of them are crying. They’re all waiting for more with smiles and tears on their eyes.

Pan looks at Apollo with a smirk. He knows he won.

Apollo, angry, throws his lyre on the ground and breaks it.

“This means nothing to me”, he says. “ **_Bronte!_ ** ”, he calls for the horse, who gets up and flies to him. The moment Apollo touches him, they both disappear.

Pan is smiling, jumping and clapping his hooves together. All the satyrs and animals begin celebrating.

Xena and Gabrielle approach Pan.

“Now everyone knows you’re better than him”, Gabrielle says.

“It may mean nothing to him, but it means  **_everything_ ** to me”, Pan speaks.

“Congratulations”, Xena says with a smile, and then her smile disappears. “But if you pull anything else like that, I’ll make your life a living Tartarus”

“She means it”, Gabrielle confirms.

Pan only smiles at them and goes away. Moreover, with that,  **_finally the sun rises_ ** .

***

Xena and Gabrielle are walking side by side, pulling Argo by the reins.

“I still can’t believe the satyrs enjoyed my silly story”, Gabrielle speaks. “I was prepared to tell them everything about why Athens is called Athens… And then Lavios hits me with that ‘I’m the son of Son’ story…”

“Well, those are the satyrs”, Xena says. “Wait”

And Gabrielle stops walking.

“What? What is it? What did you hear?”

“Nothing, but I still have something left to do. Hades?”

And the god of the dead appears in front of them.

“Xena. Have you thought of what to do with the last wish?”, he raises an eyebrow at her.

“I did”, she smiles. “My wish is that you give this wish to someone else who  **_really_ ** deserves it. And not based on the criteria of how many people they killed, but on the goodness of their heart”

Hades sighs.

“You really did change”, he tells her. “And I thought it would be easy for you to go back to darkness…”

“There is still darkness inside me, and there will always be”, Xena responds. “I just don’t feed it anymore”

“That is a very good choice, Xena”, Hades smiles honestly at her.

“I don’t do it alone”, and she looks at Gabrielle, who smiles and blushes.

“I will do as you wish”, Hades says and disappears with a nod.

Gabrielle approaches Xena.

“You know, you could have anything you want”, she says.

“But I already have so much more than I could ever ask for”, she puts an arm around Gabrielle and looks at her with so much love.

Gabrielle chuckles and they keep on walking.

***

Gabrielle, now back to the present, is delivering some of her parchments to Alec outside the tavern.

“Thank you, Gabrielle!”, he says. “I’ll have them back to you in, like, two days”

“There’s no rush, Alec”, she speaks with a docile smile. “I’m not planning on going anywhere”

Alec puts them inside a cloth bag.

“Today’s story was magnificent”, he smiles at her. “I can’t believe you met Pan, the god of music and wild creatures!”

“He was quite a character”, Gabrielle responds. “His music was… blissful… when he played, it felt like I was drunk. It was truly the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard”

“Seems like how we all feel when we’re listening to your stories”, Petra says as she comes out of the shadow; she’s been there the whole time, but didn’t dare to come closer.

Gabrielle looks at her, surprised with her sudden appearance. Alec smiles.

“That’s true!”, he says. “What a perfect way to describe it. I’ll get going. Petra, you coming?”

“I’ll be right there”, she says.

Alec nods.

“Goodnight, Gabrielle”, he tells the blonde-haired woman.

“Goodnight, Alec”

And so, Gabrielle and Petra are left alone. Some people are walking by.

“Petra, I-”

“Gabrielle…”

They both say at the same time, and they both giggle.

“I’m sorry. Go ahead”, Petra speaks.

Gabrielle looks at her with regret.

“I owe you an apology. I didn’t mean to snap like that, I guess it’s all too… recent to me, even though it happened some months ago…”

“No, listen”, Petra gets even closer and takes her hand carefully. “I am the one to apologize. I shouldn’t have asked you that question, it was too personal. I’m just so…  **_intrigued_ ** by you, Gabrielle”

“You are?”, Gabrielle gets confused.

Petra lets go of her hand.

“Yes. I mean, your stories, and… you. It’s just… Well. Will you forgive me for intruding your personal life?”

Gabrielle smiles.

“If you forgive me for being rude”, she says.

“You’re forgiven!”

“And so are you. And, listen, I really appreciate everything that you and the boys are doing”

“Oh, copying your scrolls?”, Petra slaps the air. “It’s literally our pleasure. Oh, I almost forgot! I have something for you…”

Petra takes a small parchment from her clothes and gives it to Gabrielle. Gabrielle, intrigued, opens it and read it. Then, she looks at Petra with serious eyes.

“Is this for real?”, she asks.

Petra nods, smiling very big.

“Seriously?  **_Seneca_ ** is coming to pay me a visit?!  **_Seneca_ ** ? From Rome?”

“That’s the one!”, Petra responds. “Seems like you’re getting famous yourself”

“Wow, I would never have imagined…”, Gabrielle is still in shock and surprised.

“And in a world of men”, Petra goes on. “That is quite a conquer”

“Seneca’s ideas about life are on another level…”, she’s still on the clouds.

“Don’t let it interfere on your story telling”, Petra speaks, and Gabrielle finally looks at her.

“What do you mean?”, she asks.

“I mean, just because Seneca is coming here in a couple of weeks, you shouldn’t change your way of telling stories, or choose one specific story to tell… only because you think he’ll appreciate it more”

Gabrielle examines Petra’s face.

“You’re too young to be that wise”, the bard speaks, and Petra chuckles.

“I’m serious. We all love your uniqueness”, she smiles at her. “Goodnight, Gabrielle”

“Goodnight”

And Petra leaves Gabrielle alone with the small piece of parchment on her hands. She reads it repeatedly. Finally, she walks to the inn.

But Erastus eyes are on her without her noticing. He goes back to the shadows and disappears in the darkness.

**END OF EPISODE #3**

  
  



	4. Episode 04 - The meaning of peace

**EPISODE #4, “** **THE MEANING OF PEACE** **”.**

Gabrielle is making her bed at the inn. She is folding sheets and blankets, and getting it all ready for the night, even though the sun just came up.

Xena’s ashes are on the small table, inside the urn.

Gabrielle assembles some fishing & cooking materials inside a backpack and walks to the door. As she passes by the table with the urn, she kisses her hand and places her hand on top of the urn. She stops a little to look at it, and a small smile forms on her lips.

***

She is walking under the sun in the middle of a field. It’s sunny, green and beautiful. She can hear the river already.

When she gets closer, she sees Erastus sitting on a fallen trunk. He is tying a small piece of parchment on the leg of a medium-sized bird. She stops to watch him. He whispers something to the bird, kisses its head, and then it flies away.

Erastus gets up with the help of a walking staff, turns to her and jumps in a scare when he spots Gabrielle.

“Gabrielle, by the gods”, he says and giggles a little embarrassed. “You scared me”

“I’m sorry”, she says and smiles at him as she approaches. “Were you just sending off a messenger bird?”

“Yes…”, he smiles. “That’s how I keep in touch with my daughter”

“Really?”, she places the backpack on the ground and starts taking from it some fishing material, such as a rod and a thread. “She lives too far away?”

“She lives in Phocis”, he responds.

“Ah. A little far”

“Yes. And as the old man I am, I have to send a bird to check on her. I don’t really like traveling”

Gabrielle puts the bait on the hook and throws it in the water. She is officially fishing.

“I know how it is”, she says, her eyes narrowing because of the sun. “Those journeys can be physically demanding”

“Tell me about it”, he goes next to her and smiles. “You like fishing?”

Gabrielle smiles back and shrugs. 

“I’ve grown to like it. I had zero skill, you know. But Xena taught me a thing or two”

“She did, didn’t she?”

“Absolutely. But her approach was always… extreme”

Erastus looks at her with amusement, grabs his pipe from his clothes and places it in his mouth. 

“Really? Extreme how?”, he asks. 

“Well”, Gabrielle laughs with the memories. “She liked to fish with her bare hands most of the times”

“By the gods”, the man is impressed, and he makes a little sparkle with two small rocks to lighten the pipe. “One must have strong hands for that”

“And she had, trust me”

Erastus inhales the smoke and lets out a circle of smoke, and Gabrielle watches it with delight. 

“The time in which I had strong hands is long gone”, he murmurs. 

“You seem to be holding that pipe pretty steadily”, the blonde smiles at him. 

He barks a laugh. 

“There are only so many things I can hold”

They keep in silence for a moment, watching the beautiful surroundings. 

“Got one!”, Gabrielle announces as she pulls the fishing rod, fighting against the fish who took her bait. 

“Oh, my!”, Erastus gets way more excited than usual and follows her movements with his eyes. “Must be a big one!”

Gabrielle pulls out a big fish from the water indeed.

“Ha!”, she exclaims. “Today I’ll have a good lunch!”

Erastus smiles and lets out more smoke. 

“Always good to run from the tavern’s grassy food”, he says. 

Gabrielle looks at him. 

“Would you like to join me for lunch?”, she asks. “It’s a really big fish. I don’t think I can eat it all by myself”

“No, no, I couldn’t…”, he begins to deny. 

“Please, Erastus. I insist. I like your company”

“Then, at least allow me to clean the fish. There are some things an old man like me can still do”

They smile as Gabrielle hands him the big, living fish.

***

Gabrielle and Erastus are close to the waters, sitting on trunk and stone, sharing nice pieces of fish on wooden plates Gabrielle brought along. 

“So how often do you write to your daughter?”, she asks him.

Erastus cleans his mouth with the cloth of his shirt. 

“Every week or so”, he coughs. “Mostly I tell her about the stories you told us all”

Gabrielle looks at him surprised. 

“Really?”

He nods. 

“She even wishes to come and see you storytell in person”

“I wish she does”, Gabrielle speaks. “It’d be an honor”

“I actually have to thank you, Gabrielle”, Erastus says. “Because of you and your stories, my daughter and I are having more to talk about than we ever had”

The blonde woman looks at him with sad eyes. 

“I’m glad”

“Gabrielle!”, they both hear suddenly a female voice.

They look to the side to see Petra coming down the valley, holding her dress carefully so it doesn’t rub on the wild muddy grass. 

“Hi, Petra”, Gabrielle says. “Petra, this is Erastus, a friend. Erastus, this is Petra. She and her friends are copying my scrolls to sell”

The gal and the old man shake hands as Gabrielle and Erastus stand up to greet the new arrival. 

“It’s nice to meet you, sir”, Petra says politely. She looks nice. 

“Likewise, madam”, he answers. 

Petra then turns to Gabrielle.

“Gabrielle, I’m happy I found you”, she speaks. “I have your scrolls here”, she takes them from her backpack and hands them to Gabrielle. 

“Already?”, Gabrielle takes them.

“Yes. We couldn’t stop working. We got too excited with your stories”, she smiles shily. 

“Well, thank you”, Gabrielle goes to her own backpack and puts them inside it. 

“Thank **_you_ ** ”, Petra answers. “Oh, and Seneca sent a messenger saying he’ll arrive next week”

Gabrielle looks nervous, but happy. 

“By the gods, I still can’t believe he is actually coming”

Erastus places a hand on her shoulder amicably. 

“Your talent travels beyond borders and cultures, my friend”, he says. 

She smiles at him and at Petra, who’s happily nodding in agreement. 

***

The tavern is, again, full. The workers are delivering many meals and beers to the people there. They all wait eagerly for Gabrielle to begin the story. She goes to the stage and sits on her famous chair. Someone offers her a cup of beer and she accepts, murmuring her thanks. 

“Tonight’s story involves another god as well”, she begins when there’s silence. 

“Is it Athena?”, someone asks from the audience. 

“No, it’s not”, Gabrielle answers and smiles. 

“Hephaestus!”

“Hermes!”

“Aphrodite!”

“It’s Ares, the god of war”, Gabrielle interjects. 

“He was in love with Xena, wasn’t he?”, asks a little girl from the front, who’s sitting on the floor. 

“Yes, he was”, Gabrielle speaks normally. “He always loved Xena, and always will. But this story has nothing to do with his love for her. Rather… his love for  **_war_ ** ”

***

There’s some sort of temple, in which the servers and priests are on the floor, hurt, growling out of pain and covered in blood. 

A woman is protecting a cage on top of a pedestal. She has her back to it, and she’s facing Ares, the god of war, as he approaches her. 

“I won’t let you hurt it!”, she screams to him, very scared. 

“You’re all  **_fools_ ** for standing in my way”, he speaks. “I told you to hand me the bird, and you’d all get out of here uninjured. Did you listen to me? Nooo, you had to form a  **_human shield_ ** around this silly little white bird, which is nothing but that. A silly, little white bird that stands for  **_peace_ ** ” 

He’s now right in front of her. He looks at her with anger in his eyes. 

“Move. Before I kill you”, it’s his last warning. 

The woman shakes her head; tears already rolling down her cheeks. 

Ares makes a subtle movement with his hand and the woman falls to the floor with blood coming out of her nose. She’s dead. 

He can see it now. He sees the bird. It’s a pigeon, a white pigeon inside a cage with thin bars. 

Ares barks a laughter of mockery. 

“This is it?”, he asks the bird. “This is what people are dying for? To protect  **_you_ ** ? A  **_pigeon_ ** ?”

He laughs once more. 

“This is more stupid than I thought. Only humans could do such thing. You know what, I’m going to give you a proper death…”

Ares opens the little door of the cage and reaches out his hand to grab the pigeon. 

But when he touches it, his hand burns. Quickly he retracts the hand from the cage and examines it with his eyes. He’s angry, pissed. He can’t believe he can’t touch the bird. Apparently, it does have some power, after all. Ares closes his hand in a fist and keeps staring at the dove with hateful eyes. 

“This is not over. I’ll kill you, one way or another”, he says, and with a purple light, disappears. 

(INTRO PLAYS)

Gabrielle is on top of a fig tree, grabbing figs and throwing them to Xena, who’s down there on the floor. She has a bag full of figs that Gabrielle managed to get from the branches. 

“How many more do you want?”, Gabrielle asks in a loud tone for Xena to hear her. 

“As many as you can get”, Xena answers. “There’s an orphanage nearby and we can hand them this bagful of figs”

“Won’t it get too heavy to be carried, though?”

“You clearly underestimate my strength”

“And you overestimate mine”, Gabrielle is panting. “Okay, let’s trade. I’ll be on the floor and you climb this tree after figs”

“Fine by me”, Xena shrugs. “It was you who wanted to climb the tree in the first place”

“I knew you’d throw t-”

“Shh”

“Excuse me?”

“ **_Shh, Gabrielle, make silence_ ** ”

Gabrielle makes silence as asked and tries to listen to whatever Xena heard. 

Xena, then, grabs the bagful of figs and jumps the highest she can until she lands on the same branch of the tree Gabrielle’s on. 

Gabrielle looks at Xena with the bag of figs and gets impressed. 

“Guess I really underestimated your strength”, she whispers. 

“Look”, Xena points forward down, and they see that a bunch of armed men, soldiers, about 30 of them or more, is walking by. 

The two women stay quiet listening to them. 

“...we gonna kill everyone who stands between us and the dove…”

“...Ares already killed a bunch of peasants…”

“…Yeah, they were stupid…”

Xena and Gabrielle exchange a look as the little army walks away.

“What were they talking about?”, Gabrielle asks Xena when she sees it’s safe to speak.

“Ares won’t give me a break, will he?”, Xena sighs. “I don’t know, Gabrielle, but we have to go and find out. The next village is in a two days walk; it’s getting late so the men will probably set camp for the night. When they’re out… sleeping… we catch one”

“We _ catch _ one?”, Gabrielle raises her eyebrow.

Xena looks at her.

“Yes, we catch one and ask for information”

“Ohhh, the…”, and Gabrielle makes the two fingers thing/movement that Xena makes on people’s neck to block the blood flow to their brains. “Got you”

***

There’s a big house made of wood, and someone knocks on the door three loud times. After some seconds, a young woman dressed kind of like a nun opens the door, but she sees no one. When she looks down, she spots the bag full of figs, and her face lightens up with joy. She bows down to grab some fruits with her hands, looks at them still smiling, and turns around to yell inside:

“Kids!!! Someone left us lots of figs!!!”

Some kids scream happily and get out of the house to attack the bag of fruits.

The young woman looks around trying to find who left it there but she finds no track whatsoever.

“Thank you”, she says to herself.

***

Nighttime.

The men are settling camp.

Some are making fire, some are eating, some are drinking and talking, some are already sleeping. Some are peeing.

There is one man who’s drinking a big cup of beer, and he walks away from the camp, into the woods, to go pee. He burps and totters towards a bigger bush. He starts peeing. When he finishes it, he lifts his pants and turns around. When he does, he gets surprised, because he sees Xena.

“Your mother never told you to wash your hands after you pee?”, and she punches him in the face.

***

Gabrielle is sitting down, trying to see something, trying to find Xena in the dark, when suddenly a man falls down in front of her. It’s the man Xena captured. Gabrielle is startled.

Xena is right on top of him, and she does the throat movement to block the blood flow to his brain.

“I just blocked the blood flow to your brain and you will be dead in less than 30 seconds unless you tell us what we need to know”, she says.

“What… do you want… to know…?”, asks the almost dying, terrified man.

“Are you all working for Ares?”

“Yes”

“What are his orders?”

“He… wants us to go to the next village… kill everyone who worships the pigeon… and kill the pigeon itself…”

“Why?”, Gabrielle asks.

“Because… it’s… the pigeon of peace…”

“There are many things in this world that stand for peace”, Gabrielle says again. “Why would a simple pigeon catch Ares’ attention?”

“I… I don’t know!”, the man says, blood coming out of his nose. “Please… please…”

Xena sighs and undoes the lethal movement on his throat. He coughs, and Xena kicks him in the face, blacking him out.

“That sounds really odd, Xena”, Gabrielle approaches her friend.

“I know”, the dark haired woman replies, mysteriously. “We have to know more of that… pigeon”, she raises her eyebrows.

***

The sun is rising. There’s mist. Gabrielle and Xena cross a very badly made wooden bridge with ropes. Underneath it there’s a deep cliff and a river. After they cross the bridge, Xena gets her sword and cuts the ropes, sending the whole bridge down to the river.

“This will give us three or four days of advantage”, she speaks, and they turn around and keep running.

***

Xena and Gabrielle enter a temple. It’s the temple in which Ares firstly attacked all the worshippers of the dove. They see that some people are being removed, dead; some people are being treated by healers. It’s awful. 

“Is this what the men were talking about?”, Gabrielle asks Xena as she walks around, feeling sorry for everyone there. 

“Looks like it”, answers Xena, angry with Ares. “Excuse me”, she grabs the arm of a woman healer that was distributing water from a “bottle” to many bowls. The woman looks at her. “Did Ares do this?”

“Yes”, the answer comes from a may laying down, being helped by a healer. He has his clothes covered in blood and he spits blood to the side. He’s helpless. “The god of war… came into the temple and killed everyone who stood in his way. He wanted to kill the sacred dove of peace”

“And  **_all of you_ ** stood in his way?”, Xena asked, incredulous. 

“We did”, the man answers. “And we would do it again if we had to”

“No, you wouldn’t”, Xena says. “Because Ares’ men are on their way here to slaughter the rest of you. You need to leave”

“We won’t leave”, one of the women healers approach Xena and Gabrielle. “Not one of us will. We have to protect the sacred dove”

“You do realize it’s a  **_dove_ ** , right?”, Gabrielle asks the woman. “I mean, where did you even find it? Flying around the agora?”

“How dare you disrespect the sacred dove like this?”, the woman frowns. 

Xena places herself in front of Gabrielle. 

“Hang on, hang on, let’s be clear here. You are worshipping a  **_dove_ ** ”, the warrior princess says. “Are you going to worship every white pigeon you find out there?”

“This is different”, the man on the floor says. “The dove… is  **_miraculous_ ** ”

Xena and Gabrielle share an skeptical look, but say nothing about it. 

“Whatever the dove is…”, Xena goes on. “You all have to leave this place. Like I said, Ares’ army is coming”

“We don’t care”, the man replies. “ **_We will die if we have to!_ ** No one can make us deny our faith”

“I’m not asking you to deny your faith, I’m asking you to  **_survive_ ** ”, Xena speaks. 

“Survive by denying our faith”, another injured woman says from the floor; her leg is being treated. She can barely breathe. “I’d rather  **_die_ ** ”

“We  **_all_ ** would rather die”, the first man says with emphasis. 

Xena sighs. 

“I need to talk to someone”, she says to Gabrielle, and leaves the temple. 

“Here, let me help”, Gabrielle leaves her staff against one pillar and grabs some ointment/medication to help the injured, that are being assisted by the healers. 

***

Xena is in the middle of a meadow. The wind is blowing her hair and she looks around, looking for someone. 

“ **_ARES!_ ** ”, she screams. “Ares, I know you’re around. Why don’t you stop by for a quick visit?”

The purple light shows itself and Ares, the god of war, appears in front of Xena, with a cocky smile. 

“If I recall correctly, you were never much of a fan of  **_quickies_ ** , Xena”, he says. “You always preferred the long way…”

Xena shrugs with a naughty smile. 

“Well, a woman can’t always get what she prefers anyway”, she speaks, and that rubs the smile off Ares’ face. 

“Now listen to me”, she goes on to him, in a serious tone. “What the hell are you thinking? Killing those innocent people in the temple. For the gods’ sake, Ares, they’re worshipping a simple  **_pigeon_ ** ”

Ares keeps looking at her with a very bothered face. 

“They’re worshipping something other than the greek gods”, he answers. “They need to be put back on their tracks”

“That can’t be it”, Xena narrows her eyes and tries to understand him. “There are  **_tons_ ** of cults out there in which people choose their own gods to worship, and I don’t see you going from cult to cult decimating the faithful ones”

“Then I’m doing it for fun”, he answers in his ‘I don’t give a damn’ way, and smiles. “Is that what you want to hear? How less of me do you think now?”

Xena stops and smiles. She can see through him. He starts to get a little nervous. 

“It is a simple dove, Ares, why didn’t you kill it yourself and got rid of the whole problem?”, she asks. 

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he turns his back to her and starts walking away. 

“It’s because you  **_can’t_ ** , isn’t it?”, Xena asks in a loud tone as she has a wild realization, and Ares stops walking. “ **_You can’t kill the bird_ ** . It must really be…  **_special_ ** of some sort”

“It’s just a stupid, white bird, Xena”, Ares says when he turns around to face her. He opens his arms. “You should focus your attention on something more important than that”

“Oh, Ares… I could tell you the very same thing”, her look is daring. 

He snorts, looks at her one last time, and disappears, saying as only his voice lingers:

“Stay out of this, Xena… for your own sake”

***

Xena meets with Gabrielle outside the temple. It’s getting dark. 

“Xena, those people won’t leave”, Gabrielle says as she sees her friend approaching. “They’re so…  **_stubborn_ ** . And I’ve been thinking, we could replace the pigeon. But… that wouldn’t stop the people from trying to protect it and being killed by Ares’ men. We could set the dove free and tell the people to follow it. Or we could…”

“We are  **_not_ ** removing the dove”, Xena speaks, cutting her. “Listen, I just talked to Ares. Turns out the dove… really is miraculous, sacred, or whatever.  **_He can’t kill it_ ** ”

Gabrielle is in awe. 

“What? He couldn’t kill it?”, she asks. “Why?”

“I don’t know”, Xena replies. “Maybe because too many people believe in it, and in its meaning:  **_peace_ ** . Peace goes against everything Ares stands for”

“So, what are we going to do? We can’t let them all die in the name of peace”

“No, we can’t”, Xena is pensive, thinking and thinking. “I have an idea. Let’s go”

She grabs Gabrielle by her top/bra and pulls her out of scene. 

***

The next day.

Ares’ army is walking on an empty, dusty road. The men are talking and laughing, cursing and fighting each other lightly. 

Xena and Gabrielle observe them from the bushes, they’re hidden there. Taking cover there. Gabrielle is taking some ray out of her hair, some grass from her clothes, some feathers too. 

“You  **_had_ ** to catapult us across the river, didn’t you…”, she mumbles. 

“It was the only way we could reach them in time, now  **_shush_ ** ”, Xena responds. “They’re about to find the first one”, she smiles mischievously, entertained. 

“Look what I found”, one of the men says as he bends over to grab one white feather from the ground. “Exactly like the bird we gotta kill”

He shows the other men the feather and they all laugh together. 

But when he turns back, he sees that there is a trail of white feathers. They all see that and find it weird. 

“That’s odd…”, the men mumble. 

“Don’t you think they’ll grab the head to check if it’s real?”, Gabrielle whispers to Xena. 

“They’ll be too scared for that”, Xena replies. “Besides, I bought the finest pigeon statue there was for sale”

“Yeah, I can see we don’t have many dinars left…”, Gabrielle says. 

Xena rolls her eyes, but then she focus back on the men. 

They, driven by curiosity, follow the trail of feathers, picking up all of them and gathering them. They’re silent, and sometimes they whisper things to each other. 

The men finally reach the point Xena and Gabrielle wanted them to reach. They stop to look at the ground, where they see a dove’s head with some  (fake) blood on it, and in the ground, in greek, the words written in blood: “ **_LEAVE NOW OR DIE_ ** ”.

Some of them get very scared. Others look around unsheathing their swords, scared. 

“What is this, commander?”, one of the men asks the leader of the army. 

The leader is looking around, trying to find someone, and his eyes are narrow and suspicious. 

“It’s just a sick joke”, he replies, and turns to his men. “Don’t let this silly thing scare you. It’s obviously  **_fake_ ** ”

The leader spits on the whole thing, but doesn’t touch it. In fact, when he walks by it, he dodges it, showing reluctantly his fear. His face shows the fear. 

The other men follow him; all of them dodging the bird’s head, the blood and the bloody words. They’re all scared, but they follow their leader. Some of them bring their thumbs to the mouth and kiss it, trying to repel whatever black magic that was. Other spit on it, believing it would neutralize the effect on them. 

“Looks like the first phase of your plan worked”, Gabrielle whispers to Xena with a little smile. 

“That was the smallest phase”, Xena replies. “We have work to do”

They get up and leave. 

***

The night comes. 

The men are setting camp. They lit up torches and fireplaces, and set some huts ready. 

They start hearing, suddenly, some wings clapping noise, as of a pigeon. 

Some men get up and ask what’s happening. 

Xena is holding a torch in the middle of a tree and she positions it in a way that she is hidden behind the leaves. So first the men only see the fire. Then, with the other hand she lifts a white pigeon doll and attaches it to the torch. 

“It’s… it’s the  **_sacred dove!!!_ ** ”, one man points and all the other men look too. 

“What will it do?”, another man asks. 

They grab their swords and it’s visible they’re shaken with fear. 

Xena lets go of the torch and the bird, because they’re stuck together and tied with a rope. She pulls the rope and the bird with the torch start to circle around, fly around. 

The men get even more startled. 

When the bird flies close to the main fireplace, Gabrielle, from another tree (close to the fire place) throws the content of a bag full of sand on the fireplace, killing it. The fire is gone and the men get super scared, some even jump. 

Xena pulls the rope and the bird with the torch get inside the tree again, amongst its branches and leaves, and she covers the torch with a big piece of fabric and everything disappears in the night. 

“It’s a warning”, one terrified man says as he approaches the leader. “The sacred dove, it’s the **_second warning_ ** !!! We must go back, we must leave!”

“Control yourself, silly man!”, the leader grabs him by his armor and shakes him. “This is not a warning. Like I said, this is a sick joke. There is no sacred bird. Just a regular bird”

“Then what was that which we  **_just_ ** saw?!”, another man asks him. 

“Nothing!”

“But how did it put down the fire?!”, even another man asks. 

“The first warning said… leave now or die”, the first desperate man says as he swallows dry. “This was the second warning. Evils always come in three. I don’t want to stay here to witness the third warning. I’m done”

He turns around and starts walking away. 

The leader shouts at him:

“ **_SO THAT’S IT? YOU’LL GO AWAY? LIKE A COWARD?_ ** ”

“I never signed up for being  **_haunted!_ ** ”, the man yells back. 

The leader takes a dagger he has in his belt and throws it at the man’s back. He yells and falls down, dead. 

“Anyone else thinking of leaving?”, the leader asks the other men. 

Even though they’re terrified, they shake their heads. 

“Good. You better stay put. If the god of war finds out a stupid bird is making his men abandon their post, he’ll kill each and every one of you,  _ and your families _ ”, the leader threatens again, looking at each one with huge and angry eyes. “Now, light that damn fire again”

Xena joins Gabrielle behind the bushes. She’s holding the doll bird and the dead torch, and she has a big smile on her face. 

“Did you see how scared they got?!”, Gabrielle asked, smiling. “You flew the bird  **_perfectly_ ** , it didn’t even seem fake or anything!”

“Thanks”, Xena replies. “You did a great job killing the fireplace too. The only thing I’m worried about is that commander man…”

“Yeah, he was pretty rough when he killed that other man…”, Gabrielle makes a regretful face. 

“He’s obstinate to believe this is a joke”, Xena goes on. “His loyalty to Ares is greater than I thought. We’re gonna have to play dirty”

Gabrielle looks at Xena with a puzzled expression.

“Play dirty?”

“Yes. We will have to scare him  **_privately_ ** ”

Gabrielle understands and smiles. She nods. 

“Ohh ho ho. I see. This is going to be  **_good._ ** Tonight?”

“Don’t be impatient, Gabrielle”, Xena smiles at her provocatively. “We still have two more nights”

***

The next day. 

The Ares’ men are undoing the camp. 

One man is out in the forest, collecting fruits from the ground, and another one is close to him. 

“Hey, do you know that one about the nymph with clothes on?”, the first man asks. 

“No. What about it?”, the second man says. 

“What nymph with clothes on?!”, the first man says again, and they both laugh loudly. 

They both go on picking fruits and mushrooms and putting them inside bags of fabric. They distance themselves a little from each other. 

“You know what a satyr told a centaur?”, one asks. 

“What?”

“He said, ‘how do you clean your tail after you poop, man?’”

They laugh again as they distance themselves even more. 

“Hey, how can you tell if a mermaid is into you?”, one man asks.

But he gets no response from the other guy. And he can’t see him. 

“Hey?”, he asks again. “Kalios?”

Nothing. 

“Where are you, man?”

He walks to the direction where the other soldier was and after some time finds his bag on the ground, still full of fruits and mushrooms. He looks around, scared. 

“Kalios?”, he asks. 

Xena, from one tree, makes a “coo” noise with her mouth and hands around it. The man grabs his sword and points to the direction where the sound came from. 

Gabrielle, from another tree the opposite direction, does the same. And the man turns to her direction, trying to see the pigeon. 

“By the gods, it’s the sacred dove”, the man begins to shake with fear. 

Xena and Gabrielle never stop. We can see that the soldier they abducted is unconscious on the branch behind Xena. Xena spins in a way that she can get closer to him, and steps on his foot with all her strength. The man lets out a loud, painful scream, that his companion on the ground hears.

“ **_THE DOVE_ ** ”, the man screams and runs back to the camp, almost pooping his pants with fear. 

Gabrielle comes down from the tree. Xena gets a rope from her waist and ties the man to the trunk of the tree, high up, with a muzzle (fabric) covering his mouth, and after that she jumps from the tree and lands gracefully on the ground next to Gabrielle. 

“That’ll scare them”, Xena cleans her own hands. 

Gabrielle bends over to grab a fruit from the bag of fruits the man dropped, and takes a bite with a smile. 

“Do you think this plan will work?”, she asks with a mouthful. 

“Of course it will work, it’s working already”, Xena replies. She herself grabs a fruit too and bites it with a mean look. “And tonight… is the commander’s turn”

***

Nighttime. New camp. 

The men are scared, sitting next to each other around the fire. They’re watching the surroundings in silence. They jump at every little noise they hear. 

One man whispers to the others:

“Listen… I don’t know about you guys… but I’m gonna leave tonight”

“What???”, another man asks. 

“Yeah. I’m done with following Ares to my death. I have a family, you know? I have a four years old daughter. I don’t want them to receive my dead body instead of some dinars for this work. I don’t know if Kalios disappearing was the third warning or not”

The other ones nod in agreement. 

“I have two sons…”, other soldier speaks with regret. “I want to teach them how to fight. How to hunt and survive. How to provide for their future wives”

The men stare in silence. Some look at him, some are eating, some are thinking. It’s deadly silence. 

“I don’t care if y’all gonna judge me”, another man approaches, he has a bag full of his stuff on his back. “I’m leaving right now. If you don’t want to come with, at least don’t tell the commander… I am leaving because I want to  **_escape_ ** certain death”

Some men get up saying:

“Wait, I’m coming with you!”

“I’ll gather my things!”

“Make silence, the commander is sleeping…”

Two men face each other. One is the man who announced he was leaving, and the other one is one man who is clearly staying. 

“I hope Ares has mercy on your soul”, the man who’ll stay says. 

“I hope the  **_sacred dove_ ** has mercy on yours”, the other one replies. 

They grab each other’s arms and shake it lightly, it is a goodbye. 

A bunch of men leave the camp. 

Xena and Gabrielle are watching them from the bushes; they have big smiles on their faces. 

“Time for the commander to lose his cool…”, Xena says and she and Gabrielle disappear mischievously in the dark. 

***

Inside the commander’s tent. 

He is sleeping, snoring like a pig. 

It can be heard something being ripped by a blade. 

Xena falls inside the tent from above (the ceiling of the tent is still not seen, but it is clear that she ripped it with a dagger and entered the tent through it), in silence. 

She looks at the man sleeping and makes a disgusted face. 

“Men… Always so noisy…”, she mumbles. “Gabrielle never snores”, she shakes her shoulders. “Ok, not  **_never_ ** …”

Xena has a little canteen with herself. She turns it to her hand and it is fake, liquid blood. She goes to the beige wall (made of fabric) of the tent and begins writing big greek letters on it with the fake blood. She writes “Third and last warning”

“Uh, what is his name?”, Xena asks in a whisper. She turns to the commander. “What is your name, pig man?”

Then she walks to a little table in which lots of maps and scrolls lay on and she goes through them until she finds his name. 

“Commander Viggo”, she whispers. Looks at him with a curious face, like she’s thinking. Then she shrugs. “I guess it suits you”

She goes back to the wall and finishes writing. 

“Viggo. Done”

Suddenly, one thing that Xena doesn’t expect happens. 

A soldier, one of the men, enter the tent saying: “Commander?”

He looks at Xena, who is still like a stone with her fingers covered in “blood”, then looks at the commander, and is about to scream.

But…

Before he can react at all, Xena kicks him in the chin, and he falls down, unconscious on the ground. 

She looks at the commander, who snores loudly once, then turns to the side and continues to snore. 

Xena sighs. 

“Damage”, she whispers. 

***

Xena lands on Gabrielle’s side in the middle of the forest, with that man completely tied up, from his mouth to his toes. 

“What’s this?!”, Gabrielle asks. 

“That… is a witness”, Xena speaks heavily. “He saw me as I wrote on the commander’s tent’s wall. I had to get him”

“Oh! He didn’t… he didn’t tell anyone, did he?”

“He didn’t have the time to”

“What will we do with him?”

“I’ll tie him to a tree, like our friend Kalios”

“Sounds good”, Gabrielle agrees. “You’re  **_certain_ ** that the merchants travel where they are, right? They’ll hear them in a couple of days and set them free?”

“Yes, Gabrielle, like I told you a hundred times, I  **_am_ ** certain of that” 

“I just don’t want to leave them to the vultures…”

“I wouldn’t be opposed”, Xena shrugs. 

Gabrielle slaps her shoulder lightly.

“I’ll be right back”, Xena says and disappears in the night. 

***

The sun comes up. 

A rooster sings somewhere. 

Viggo, the commander, slowly wakes up. He stops snoring and sits on his “bed”. He scratches his belly and opens his eyes. 

He sees the bloody words on the wall.

He forces his eyes to see better. He reads out loud:

“Third and last warning. Go away NOW, Viggo” (and there’s a little arrow pointing up ↑)

His eyes open super wide when he looks at the ceiling.

There’s a opening there in the shape of a dove with its wings open. 

Viggo lets out a terrified scream that can be heard in all the forest. 

Before he even puts on his clothes, his armor, he runs out of his tent yelling:

“THE SACRED DOVE!!! THE SACRED DOVE!!!”

Some men rush to him. 

“What happened, commander?”, they ask, trying to calm the man down.

One man hands him a canteen full of water.

“The dove…”, he says, he sounds like a very agitated crazy person. 

He grabs the canteen and drinks a lot of sips; then he throws water on his own head and shakes like a dog trying to get rid of the wetness. 

“The dove came to my tent at night”, he speaks.

Some of the men shake with fear; their faces are marked with it. 

“It… it wrote… with blood… that this is the final warning”, he continues. “And then it flew away and left a dove mark on the ceiling”

Some men run to his tent.

“Yes, yes, you go see, go all see!!!”, Viggo says.

The men go, and come back in shock. 

One of them gets his sword and throws it to the floor. 

“I’m done!”, he speaks. “I’m going home…”

“Yes!!!”, Viggo yells. “We should all go home…! We can’t win this battle… Ares will have to forgive us”

“I  **_never_ ** forgive anyone”, suddenly, Ares appears in front of them in a godly purple light.

The men get scared. 

Ares opens his arms at them, looking at each one with his snobby pose. 

“What’s the matter? Got so scared by a damn little pigeon that you fear every single thing now?”, he asks. 

Viggo approaches him with fear. 

“Ares… our worshipped god of war… please forgive us, I beg you…”

“ **_COWARDS!_ ** ”, he yells at them, which scares them, especially Viggo, who retreats. “You weren’t being haunted, you bunch of waste of humans. You were **_played_ ** by Xena, the warrior princess!”

“Xena?”, one man asks. 

“Yes!”, Ares goes on. “She has been doing this to you. She wants to scare you all off, and guess what, it is  **_WORKING!_ ** Because you’re all  **_FREAKING STUPID!_ ** ”

“She couldn’t have done everything we witnessed, oh god of war…”, Viggo imposes. “There was blood… and… and…”

“ _ And… and… _ ”, Ares imitates him with a mocking tone. “Humans…”

Ares makes a gesture with his hand and Xena and Gabrielle appear in front of them all. They look surprised as hell, and of course they are, they didn’t see this coming. The men get surprised too. 

“What just happened?”, Gabrielle asks, stunned and a little dizzy. 

“I brought you here”, Ares says with a fake smile. “To prove to all of those  **_chickens_ ** …”, he gestures at the army of men. “...that you’re behind the sacred dove haunting”

“What the Tartarus are you talking about?”, Xena asks him.

Ares walks to her, still with the smile on his face, and grabs the little canteen (of fake blood) off her waist. Xena tries to take it back from him, but he holds her hand quickly. 

“Ah-ah…”, he speaks. “Not this time…”

Ares turns around and throws the little canteen at Viggo. Gabrielle looks worried. 

“Check what is inside it, commander”, Ares orders. 

Xena and Gabrielle share a worried look.

Viggo opens it and pours it on his hand.

It’s water. 

Ares loses his smile at the same time and looks at Xena. She, on the other hand, is smiling at him. 

“What? Not what you expected, oh mighty god of war?”, she asks with mockery. 

Gabrielle is smiling too. 

“You’ll pay for this, Xena”, Ares says with anger. 

“I don’t think so”, she replies.

Then, a movement begins. They start to hear the sound of many people yelling, and they turn to see that the followers of the dove are running after it - AFTER THE DOVE!, who’s flying about two meters higher than them.

“Get it back!”, they’re all screaming. Some of them have webs to try to catch the dove and put it back to the cage. 

“Be careful, don’t hurt it!”

“It’s lose!!!”

“It’s flying away!”

And the group and the dove are approaching each time more Ares, the men, Xena and Gabrielle. 

Ares turns to the men with fire in his eyes:

“This is the time, soldiers!”, he speaks with confidence. “Prove to me you’re not worthless and  **_kill the dove_ ** !!!”

“Don’t listen to him”, Xena speaks louder to them. “Do you really want to be scared of sleeping at night?”

“The man who kills it will be rewarded with many women and  **_two hundred dinars_ ** ”, Ares says. 

The soldiers look at each other, draw their swords and, with a scream of battle, they run to the group of people and the dove who’s “leading” them. 

Ares laughs with victory, while Xena and Gabrielle run after them to try to stop them.

A battle begins.

Gabrielle, with her staff, fights many men, but some pass by her. The same with Xena and her sword. She is heavily fighting many of them, and she even throws her chakram at the ones that escaped from her, but it still is not enough. 

The faithful ones and the dove approach even more. Now they’re here. The followers of the dove try to stop the men, but they’re beaten and fall to the ground, hurt. 

Some soldiers try to kill the dove, but it is out of their reach. They throw daggers and swords at it, but they always miss. 

Ares is watching everything with arms crossed and amusement on his face. 

Then, the dove begins to fly in his direction. He loses his smile. 

“You’re coming to me now, aren’t ya?”, he murmurs, and gets ready. A baseball bat  _ (LOL!!!)  _ appears on his hands and he’s holding it with lots of strength. “Come to me, silly bird… I’ll send you to the Elysian Fields myself…”

Everyone is watching that with lots of attention. Everything stops for them to watch it. The followers, from the ground, yell:

“NOOOOOOO!!!”

“Don’t hurt it!”

“Please!”

The soldiers are watching with curiosity. 

Xena and Gabrielle are too far away to be able to do anything, so they only watch too with worry (in slow-mo). 

The dove is flying to Ares. It’s very close.

He moves the bat to hit the dove, but the dove dodges it and goes straight to his face. 

There’s a burning sound and Ares lets out a scream full of pain.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”

As the dove flies away, Ares reveals his face, that is now burnt… it is injured. But not “humanly” injured. It is GODLY injured. It has some purple marks that sparkle. 

Everyone is surprised. The men abandon their weapons and run away, scared for life. 

The people celebrate, giving up chasing the dove and begin hugging each other. 

Xena and Gabrielle come closer to Ares. 

“You should have left the dove alone, Ares”, Xena says. 

“Yeah. It’s too much for you”, Gabrielle provokes. 

He looks at them with so much hatred… 

“This will heal, you know”, he points at his own face. “The dove… is not worth it. I have tons of other stuff to do. Xena, Gabrielle…”

And he disappears with the purple light of always. 

Gabrielle and Xena smile at each other and watch as the dove becomes just a little dot in the horizon. 

“So… people will keep worshipping the dove as a god?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“I think more like a symbol”, Xena answers. “The symbol of peace”

“The white dove… symbol of peace”, Gabrielle speaks to herself. “That actually sounds nice”, she smiles at Xena, who smiles back at her. 

Xena puts an arm around Gabrielle’s shoulders. 

“How about we ask those people if they have natural thermal fonts closeby?”, the warrior princess asks as they begin to walk back to the city. 

“Oh my gods, I hope they do”, Gabrielle responds. “I’ve been  **_needing_ ** to take a good, cleaning bath…”

“I can tell”, Xena kids. 

“Hey!!!”, Gabrielle pokes her belly. 

“I’m just joking with ya”, Xena holds her back and kisses her temple. “You smell like a field of gardenias…”

Gabrielle laughs.

“Gods forbid people knew you’re actually very romantic”

“Gods forbid”, Xena takes from gods-know-where a gardenia (white flower) and hands it to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle blushes hard and gets the flower with a smile, and smells it. She smiles even bigger because she knows the scent is delicious. 

They go on, walking like that, side by side, halfly hugged, following the bunch of happy people that walk back to the village. 

***

People applaud (in the tavern, after Gabrielle finishes telling the story). 

We can see Petra applauding with more intensity than ever. She’s smiling a lot. 

Gabrielle thanks everyone and heads to the counter to ask for dinner. Petra follows her in the middle of the crowd. 

“Gabrielle!”, she sits next to the bard. 

“Hi, Petra, please join me, I’m about to have dinner”

“Sounds good, thank you”, Petra answers. “May I have what she’s having too?”

“Sure thing”, Milah, Bastian’s wife, goes to get her. 

“Amazing story tonight”, Petra tells Gabrielle. 

“Thank you”, Gabrielle responds. 

“Were you and Xena…”, she is afraid to ask. 

Gabrielle raises her eyebrows for her to go on.

“...involved?”

Milah places the dishes in front of them.

“Nice meal”, she wishes them with a smile, and both of them thank her quickly. 

“Why are you asking me that?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“I’m sorry if it is too personal for me to ask…  **_Again_ ** … But… The story. I mean, you two… It seemed like you two were involved”

Gabrielle begins to eat her stew. 

“What if we were?”, she asks with a polite smile. 

“Then I think you shouldn’t cut it from the stories”, Petra says with security. “It’s a big part of your life. It meant a lot. I think… I  **_know_ ** we would all  **_love_ ** to hear more about it” 

Gabrielle seems to think. She’s pensive. 

“I’ll definitely take this into consideration”, she responds. 

Petra smiles at her and puts one hand on top of hers. 

“Thank you”

Gabrielle looks at their hands, making Petra quickly retract hers, and she too begins to eat. 

***

Gabrielle is back in her room at the inn. 

She lays down in bed, turns her face to the side and looks at Xena’s urn. 

“I hope you don’t think bad of me for the story I’m telling next week”, she says in a low voice. “It was…  **_hard_ ** … but it was an adventure nonetheless. Wasn’t it?”

Gabrielle smiles at the urn, but it is a sad smile. 

“Goodnight, Xena”

She turns to the other side and closes her eyes to sleep. 

**END OF EPISODE #4**


	5. Episode 05 - One more apology

**EPISODE #5, “** **ONE MORE APOLOGY** **”.**

Someone knocks on a door. 

“Gabrielle?”, comes a known voice. It’s Bastian’s voice (the owner of the tavern). 

Gabrielle, inside her room at the inn, drops her scroll that lies on her lap, her feather with ink, and gets up, heading towards the door. 

“Bastian?”, she asks. “What is it?”

“You have a visitor”, he responds. 

Hesitantly, Gabrielle opens the door, and sees Bastian’s face. He has a smile as he says:

“I’m sorry to bother you… but this gentleman asked to meet you in private”

When Bastian excuses himself and clears the path for her, Gabrielle opens the door widely and she sees a rather old man, with a fluffy beard and roman clothing. Her expressions go to surprised as soon as she realizes who the man with the kind expression is. 

“By the gods, mr. Seneca”, she exclaims.

“Gabrielle”, the man says and reaches for her hand with both of his own. He has a subtle, but very welcoming, smile on his face. 

“Had I known you’d visit me now, I’d have dressed better…”, she speaks, trying to fix her hair that is a little bit wild, and shakes his hands with delight.

“No, no, please”, Seneca speaks. “It is a pleasure to meet you and you are perfect just now as you are. It was a personal choice of mine to meet you in private, rather than in public. Forgive me for being this unwieldy, but I believe our interaction will be much more human and less ceremonial if we meet like this”

Gabrielle politely smiles back at him.

“I completely agree, sir”

“Please, no formalities… Just Seneca is fine”

“Yes, si-Seneca”

They both giggle. 

“I would like to say it is such a honor to me that you came all the way from Rome to listen to my storytelling”, she speaks and puts a hand over her heart. “I have always appreciated and loved your work; your letters… are life changing” 

“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart”, he smiles to her. “Gabrielle, from what I’ve heard and read of your stories… the few ones that reached Rome… I just believe that the way of life that you and Xena had, and you still have, is what I’ve always saw for humankind as being the ideal. And your stories are full of lessons, lessons that I myself couldn’t illustrate better. They even have  **_enlightened_ ** me. So, my dear Gabrielle, while it is a honor to you, it is even more of a prestige  **_to me_ ** ”

Gabrielle is astonished as she’s smiling a little; she doesn’t know what to say, it means so much to her coming from such a great, intelligent figure. 

“I can’t say how much this means to me”, she speaks. “Thank you”

“As my letters changed your life,  **_your life_ ** changed mine. I am looking forward to hearing your story tonight”

“And I am looking forward to telling it”, Gabrielle says. “This one… is a very intimate one. One that still marks my heart, but in a good way”

Seneca puts a hand on her shoulder. 

“How lucky am I that you chose this story to be told when I’m here?”

Gabrielle keeps the smile. 

“I guess fate would want you to hear it”

“I guess so”, Seneca says, and then he grabs something out of his large and loose tunic. “These I brought for you”, he hands her the little wooden box. “It is incense from the land of Chin” 

Gabrielle takes the box and looks at it with loving eyes. 

“What a gift… thank you so much, Seneca”, she looks back at him. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything for you…”

He gestures dispensation. 

“I didn’t expect you to have. A gift consists not on what is done or given, but on the intention of the giver or the doer”

“Thank you very much”

“I’ll see you tonight”, he smiles at her, she smiles back at him, and he leaves. 

She closes the door, smells the box then opens it. She sees the incenses. Gabrielle decides to lighten up one. 

She closes her eyes as she smells the scent, breathes deeply in. 

“How can a scent inspire you?”, she asks herself out loud. “How can it make you think of so many things at once?”

She opens her eyes, looks at Xena’s urn, and smiles. 

***

The tavern. Nighttime. 

People are settling down; we can see that some people are greeting Seneca and complimenting him. He’s accepting and politely dismissing the compliments. He sits down, then, on a chair that is on the front row. Of course he has a privileged place. 

Gabrielle walks to the center of the stage and she already receives lots of applauses. She smiles a little shyly, but gestures a thank you. Then she sits on the chair and exchanges a meaningful look with Seneca. 

“Thank you all for coming here one more night”, Gabrielle begins when they all settle down. “Tonight’s story is a very personal one”, she looks at Petra and smiles at her. She smiles back, with love and admiration in her eyes. “A friend recommended me that I… exposed my feelings, and I’ll do so, starting tonight”

Everyone cheers, and they’re apprehensive. There’s a bunch of kids sitting down closeby, and Gabrielle spots them. 

“This is not a story for kids”, she tells the woman that is taking care of them. 

“They don’t mind”, the woman responds. “They need to know what the world is like out there”

“We don’t mind!”, one of the kids repeats. 

“We need to know what the world is like out there!”, another one says. 

The people giggle and laugh on the cuteness of the kids, and Gabrielle can’t do anything about it. 

“Alright”, she responds. “I’ll begin by bringing about the dark past of Xena. You all know she had an army of her own, and fought besides Borias… And killed many, many people”

There was astonishment and fear on the faces of the kids as they stood still, ears like a rabbit’s. 

“Ever since I met her, I helped her getting over it, getting over who she was… And becoming the person that she is - she was now”

***

Xena and Gabrielle (Gabrielle already has short hair) are walking side by side on a field, alone, and they’re talking. 

“It’s been so long since we last went to Potidaea”, Gabrielle says. “I really miss my mom and dad”

“I’m sure they miss you too”, Xena replies. 

“They don’t miss  **_you_ ** , though”, Gabrielle uses her playful tone. 

“They hate me to their guts”, Xena says in a boring voice. 

“They don’t  **_hate_ ** you”, Gabrielle replies. “They just… think you’re the reason I left home”

“Well, am I not?”

Gabrielle stops to look at Xena, making her stop as well. 

“Xena, we talked about this”, she speaks. “I left because I wanted to. Of course I wanted to know life beside you, but… leaving home was the best thing I’ve ever done”

Xena smiles at her. 

“I’m glad that’s how you feel”, she says. 

“It is”, she reaches Xena’s hand and squeezes it. “Now, hurry up, we have to be there before dinner, my belly is growling”

They begin running happily.

***

When they reach the house, Gabrielle begins screaming her sister’s name, Lila. 

Her sister opens the door, yells “Gabrielle!”, and with a smile she runs to her and they hug.

Xena only watches that scene with love in her eyes and a little bit of missing feeling of her brothers. 

“I’m so glad you came!”, Lila said. “Hi, Xena”, she speaks normally. 

“Hello, Lila, thanks for having me”, Xena answers. 

“It’s our pleasure. Now come, mom is preparing a delicious wild boar dad hunt!”

“Dad’s hunting wild animals now?”, Gabrielle jokes, and she directs a smile to Xena. 

Xena reciprocates it, but she always feels a little out of place when they’re at Gabrielle’s parents’ house. She doesn’t feel welcomed. 

***

They’re all having dinner, eating the boar, having a good time. 

Gabrielle’s father is telling a story.

“...so when I grabbed the boar, it was still half alive, because let’s face it, I am a terrible bowman. I failed at aiming, so when I got near it, it scratched me with its paws and gave me a little gift to remember”, he shows his forearm that has a bandage. The bandage covers an injury. 

Everyone laughs a little.

“Nothing a good chamomile unguent couldn’t handle”, Gabrielle’s mom says.

“That reminds me of when Adrian tried to set up a trap for pigeons, but they ended up biting him all over”, Gabrielle speaks and laughs with herself.

Lila, her sister, swallows dryly, visibly worried, and she looks at Xena, who looks back at her with a questioning look. 

“Remember, Lila?”, Gabrielle looks at her sister. “He used wood and mud… and a tiny rope made of wheat”

Lila forces as smile and drinks from her mug. 

“Yes, I remember”, she responds. 

“Gods, I miss him. Adrian was our best friend when we were kids. He was the sweetest boy”, Gabrielle goes on. “Whatever happened to him? I’ve never seen him again”

Her parents make silence as they remain eating, but they all share a look. Xena is eating as she takes in all the weirdly worried looks. 

“What?”, Gabrielle loses her smile. “What is wrong? What happened to Adrian?”

No one speaks. Gabrielle looks at her sister. 

“Lila? Please?”

Lila takes a deep breath. She looks at Xena; the mood is already odd at the table. Lila speaks:

“He was called to fight for the army of Aetolia… and died in battle”

At the mention of the name of the city, Xena already knows what they’re all talking about. She lowers her eyelids and breathes deeply. She already knows what’s coming her way. 

“By the gods…”, Gabrielle loses her cool and is taking in the information, shaken by it. “I… never knew…”

“No one knew until about two years later, and after that you had already left home”, Hecuba, Gabrielle’s mom says. 

“And it slipped our minds to tell you”, Lila goes on. 

Gabrielle is still taking in; she’s sad and her eyes are filled with tears. 

“I can’t believe this… He was such a good boy, a good young man… Why do bad things keep happening to good people?”

There was silence, but Gabrielle’s dad, Herodatus, lays a gentle hand on top of hers. 

“Sometimes… tragedies like this happen, and there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s just life”, he speaks. 

“Yes, but  **_Aetolia?_ ** Such a pacific city, what even happened there? Who even attacked?”, by this time Gabrielle is spilling some tears. 

There’s silence, but they all look at Xena. Gabrielle doesn’t understand at first, but then she follows their look and sees Xena. She sighs in the middle of tears. 

“Oh, no”, she speaks with all hope fading away. 

Xena doesn’t say anything; her face is rough as a stone. 

**INTRO PLAYS**

Xena and Gabrielle are inside Gabrielle and Lila’s bedroom, and everyone else is outside, doing the dishes and putting everything to its place. Xena and Gabrielle are arguing. 

“I can’t believe  **_your army_ ** attacked Aetolia”, Gabrielle says with so much rage and sadness. Her back is turned to Xena. 

“Gabrielle, there’s nothing I can do now”, Xena speaks. “You know I was someone else back then, and if I could change it, I would… but you always told me I can’t spend the rest of my life blaming myself and carrying this guilt…”

“I just… I just can’t believe your army…  **_you_ ** killed Adrian…” 

Xena’s expression is firm, but she obviously feels bad. 

“Of all people, I would never expect you to judge me too”, Xena says.

Gabrielle turns to face her; her face is swollen with her sobs. 

“I was always kind to you despite your past… but I see now that it was only like that because your past never affected me directly”, she says, very hurtful. “Now that it does… I  **_hate_ ** you for it”

Xena’s hurt. 

She speaks:

“I’m sorry… I can’t undo what I’ve done”, and clenches her jaw. 

“I need some time for myself”, Gabrielle speaks again and turns her back to Xena once more. 

Xena slowly approaches Gabrielle and touches her shoulder with so much gentleness and care. But Gabrielle retracts her shoulder, and Xena gets even more hurt. 

“I’ll head to Thebes”, she says. “You’ll know where to find me”

Gabrielle doesn’t say anything. 

Xena keeps looking at her for some time more, wondering if she lost her life partner for good. A tear rolls down her cheek, but she quickly cleans it with the back of her hand. She turns around and exits the door. 

Xena meets with Gabrielle’s family. They all look at her.

“I’m sorry”, she says, and leaves. 

***

**Gabrielle’s narrator voice** :  _ “I couldn’t stay with my family. I needed people who understood me, who could give me real advice instead of telling me to come back home to a life of domestic labors” _

Gabrielle is traveling. We can see she packed her things and got herself a horse; it’s sunny when she leaves her house and follows the forgotten paths of the mountains and forests. 

_ “My other family…  _ **_They_ ** _ would understand me. Women forged in blood and dust, with lives much harder than mine. With way superior knowledge… Knowledge that I needed in that moment” _

Gabrielle rides her horse even when it is night, even when it’s misty and she can’t see the road in front of her. She makes some stops to drink water from a spring, to hunt a rabbit with her bow and arrow, cook it and eat it. She looks at the sky and sees the moon. 

_ “I had no idea what was expecting me, but it was fate who wanted me there” _

Gabrielle reaches a part of the forest that is quieter than usual. She dismounts her horse and starts walking with caution. 

Suddenly, some arrows hit the ground, centimeters from her feet. 

Gabrielle joins her hands high over her head: the sign of “coming in peace” of the amazons that she knows so well. 

The amazons land on the ground in front of her.

One of them has a big, scary bird mask.

“I come in peace, sisters”, Gabrielle speaks. 

“Of course you do”, the amazon with the mask lifts the mask and reveals herself: it’s Ephiny, the queen of the Telaquire Amazons, Gabrielle’s close friend. She’s smiling. “I’m yet to hear about an amazon queen who comes in war to her sisters”

“Queen Ephiny”, Gabrielle smiles back with so much relief and brings her fist to her left chest, bowing her head. “It’s so good to see you”

“I should be the one bowing to you”, Ephiny says when she approaches Gabrielle and gives her a hug. “Or did you forget you’re still queen and I’m simply ruling in your absence?”

“I am sure you’re doing a much better job than I could ever do myself”, Gabrielle keeps holding her. 

“That’s debatable. Come, let’s feast”, Ephiny gestures them all to go to the tribe. “Everyone will be very happy to see you”

They start walking inside the forest. 

***

It’s a typical amazon reception. It’s already dark, so there’s a big fireplace around which some amazons with masks are dancing wildly to drums and voices. Their dance is intense, and their screams even more. 

There are big tables in which most of the amazons are sitting, eating from the big feast in front of them. There’s a lot of everything: fruits, vegetables, meat, wine, drinks, water, everything. 

Gabrielle is sitting next to Ephiny, drinking a lot herself. 

“Queen Gabrielle, tell us about the men world”, Ephiny tells her. “Is it still full of useless men?”

We can tell she’s drunk. She laughs and some amazons laugh as well. 

“You know it”, Gabrielle answers; she’s drunk too. 

Like a spell, all the clouds that were covering the sky suddenly were blown away by the strong wind, and they revealed the brightest moon, with a red circle around it. 

“Bloody moon”, one of the amazons says and points to the moon. “Trouble close”

“Not tonight”, Ephiny tells her with an authoritarian tone. “Tonight, we dance”, she grabs Gabrielle by the hands and brings her to the fireplace where the amazons are dancing with lots of synchrony. 

They both begin dancing too, inebriated, caught by the moon’s spell and the amazon’s customs. They know the steps, so they dance in synchrony as well. 

A wolf somewhere howls. An owl sings. All there is is the moon. They dance, and eat, and drink, all night. 

***

The morning comes. 

Gabrielle comes out of her tent wearing her amazon outfit. It’s early, so most of the amazons are still sleeping, but some are of course guarding the tribe. 

As she walks, they greet her. 

She breathes in the fresh air and spots a tent that has smoke coming out of it in spiral. Intrigued, she decides to go there. 

Gabrielle opens the fabric door of the tent.

“Excuse me?”, she says as she enters. 

There’s a woman there, throwing some dust on the small fireplace she has built in the center of the ground. 

“A queen doesn’t need to excuse herself to go anywhere in her tribe”, the woman says.

She’s using deer antler on her head, and is dressed as a typical shamaness. 

“I know you’re troubled”, the shamaness speaks again and looks at Gabrielle for the first time. Her eyes are grey. “Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been wanting to tell me?”

Gabrielle swallows dry. Shamaness amazons were always mystic and wise. 

“Sit”, the shamaness tells Gabrielle, and points to a piece of fur on the ground across her. 

Gabrielle does so and sits down. 

“Speak”, the woman says. 

“I… well, my friend… did something… bad, and I don’t think I can forgive her”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m too hurt”

“Hmmm…”, the shamaness looks at her intrigued. “I don’t think you came here wanting me to tell you what to do”

“I followed the smoke…”

“I don’t mean here my tent, I mean here  **_here_ ** ”

Gabrielle thinks some. 

“You should go back to queen Ephiny”, the woman says. “It is she who needs you right now. And it is you who need her to need you”

Gabrielle, not knowing what to answer, simply bows her head and leaves the tent. 

As the woman predicted, queen Ephiny is, indeed, looking for her. 

She approaches with a worried face. 

“Queen Gabrielle, I’m so sorry to ruin your visit, I’m sure you came here with nothing but good intentions to get close to your amazon sisterhood, but something has been happening and we could use your help”

Gabrielle inhales deeply. That’s what she needs too. 

“Absolutely”, she responds, and follows Ephiny to the royal tent. 

***

Inside Ephiny’s tent. 

Ephiny is there, alongside with Gabrielle and one more warrior amazon called Frona. There’s a big map open on a wooden table. Ephiny is leaning on it and pointing at it. 

“Recently we received some complaints about the Orestis amazon tribe”, Ephiny speaks as she points at the said region on the map. “We came in contact with two other tribes who claim that the Orestis tribe has been…”

She stops and sighs. 

“Has been what?”, Gabrielle asks. 

Ephiny and Frona exchange a look. 

“Has been  **_going rogue_ ** ”, Ephiny responds. 

“What? Rogue how?”, Gabrielle again. 

“According to what has been said to us, the amazons from the Orestis tribe have enslaved men”, she speaks. “And gathered a fair amount of innocent men as prisoners” 

“But why?”, Gabrielle questions. 

“We don’t know”, Ephiny answers. “We sent a messenger… a week ago, but she never returned. Which is why some of us now have to go there ourselves. That tribe is going against the Amazon Nation’s Rules. Frona is going first light tomorrow”, she looks at the warrior woman, who nods, serious. “I asked you to come here, Gabrielle, because I want to know if you’d stay in my place as queen - which is your right - while I go to the Orestis tribe with Frona and four more amazons”

“No, Ephiny”, Gabrielle shakes her head. “I would never be able to rule as well as you. I know that and  **_you_ ** know that. Stay here in your tribe… and  **_I’ll_ ** go with Frona and the others”

“I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that, Gabrielle”, Ephiny says. 

“You’re not asking. I  **_want_ ** to do this. I want to know if the rumors are true, and if so, what their motivations are”

Ephiny considers some, but she knows she can’t go against a Queen’s will.

“If that is what you want…”, Ephiny says. 

“Yes”, Gabrielle smiles lightly at her. “And don’t worry. We will keep in touch”

“You better”, Ephiny warns her, but smiles back, and they shake hands/wrists. “Thank you, Gabrielle”

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t do enough for the Amazon Nation”, Gabrielle says. “Whenever I get the chance, I’ll help”

***

Six horses run quickly over the fields and the forest when the sun rises. 

They cross rivers, they slow down when they have to, but they never stop. 

The night comes and the day too. 

Finally they arrive at a drier part of the forest, where the trees are lifeless and there are no birds or other animals. There’s only silence. 

The amazons dismount their horses and look around, expectant. Gabrielle is their leader. 

“It’s so quiet”, Frona says. 

“There aren’t even birds singing”, another amazon speaks. 

“This land is dead”, yet another one says. 

Gabrielle looks around. She knows. 

“They’re here”, she says. 

Loud war screams are heard from within the forest. Gabrielle and the amazons look around but don’t see anything. One of the amazons draw her sword. 

“ **_Put your sword away now_ ** ”, Gabrielle hisses at her. 

Gabrielle narrator’s voice: “ _ After all, we’re all amazons here, we are all sisters and lovers _ ”

Armed women jump in front of them, coming from acrobatic jumps and spins and all. They have masks too, but not bird masks… but monkey masks, tiger masks. Masks that terrify people, ugly and scary ones. 

“Sisters”, the leader woman takes her tiger mask off and reveals herself. She’s tall, strong and beautiful. “Welcome to the Orestis tribe”, she smiles and puts her fist on her chest. “I’m queen Kira”

Gabrielle takes one friendly step forward. 

“Thank you, queen Kira. I’m queen Gabrielle of the Telaquire tribe”, she puts her fist on her chest as well. 

“Telaquire?”, Kira smiles and looks at one of her companions, the woman with the monkey mask. “We have with us one amazon from the Telaquire tribe. She decided to stay with us now”

The woman of the monkey mask takes off her mask and reveals herself to be the messenger that Ephiny sent to that tribe over a week ago. 

“Felya”, Frona speaks to her. “We were worried about you”

“Frona, I’m sorry”, Felya says. “There was so much to do here that I forgot to send word to queen Ephiny about my change of tribes”

“Seems like you and your tribe have been busy”, Gabrielle says to queen Kira. 

“We  **_have_ ** ”, she replies. “To what do I owe the honor of your presence here, queen Gabrielle?”

“Queen Kira, forgive me for being so forward. I’ve been informed… that you and your tribe have been executing activities that go against the Amazon Nation Code”, she replies. “And I came here to see the truth myself”

Queen Kira makes a face that says she doesn’t understand. Like she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. 

“Against the Code? I don’t think so”, she says. “I can assure you, queen Gabrielle, that we haven’t crossed any line the Code imposes”

“We heard that you’ve been enslaving men and taking innocent ones as prisoners”, Gabrielle goes on. 

“I have  **_not_ ** done such things and am  **_offended_ ** with the insinuation”, queen Kira takes in a more serious posture. 

“Forgive me, queen Kira, for I didn’t mean to offend you”, the blonde says. “I’m only performing my duties one of the queens of the great Amazon Nation”

“Of course you are”, Kira responds. “You’re welcome at the tribe for some days if you don’t believe my word”

“I  **_do_ ** believe your word”, Gabrielle. “But some days of rest would be nice. We traveled without any stops”

Queen Kira seemed to think some, but after that she opened a very large and honest smile at them. 

“Then please, be welcomed! Let us lead the way. You all can stay and rest for as long as you want”

Gabrielle smiles back. 

“Thank you for your hospitality, queen Kira”

“It’s my entire pleasure. I love when sisters come to visit. I’ll lead the way”

The amazons of Kira start walking inside the forest and so does she. Frona stops besides Gabrielle and asks her:

“Is that it? Are you just going to believe her like that?”

“Of course not”, Gabrielle whispers back. “We will stay here and investigate. Listen up, all of you”, the amazons gather. “Maintain a low profile and don’t be too curious, but do look for abnormalities. Report to me in the end of the day”

They all nod and follow queen Kira some steps behind. 

***

Inside Orestis tribe. The amazon women are performing their labors. They observe the visitors as they pass. It’s deadly silence, but the tribe is big. VERY big, with lots of construction. 

There are no men slaves. 

They pass by a group of children that are gathered around a fireplace with an elderly woman talking to them; she’s saying:

“And that’s why men only serve for procreating. They have no other use for us… or for anyone else beyond those walls”

Gabrielle furrows her brow thinking that is rather strange. They don’t teach that in her tribe, or any other tribe that she knows of. 

They stand in front of a big tent. 

“This is the visitors’ tent, you can have them”, queen Kira speaks. “It’s large and has room for all of you”, she’s friendly and nice. 

“Thank you, queen Kira”, Gabrielle replies. 

“Tonight we will have fish for dinner”, Kira smiles and goes away. 

Gabrielle and her amazons enter the tent. 

It’s a big tent with everything they need; beds, nets, a table, some fruits around. 

Gabrielle looks at her women. 

“It’s time to investigate”, she says, and they all leave the tent through the back exit. 

***

Gabrielle is walking around the tribe; some of the amazons greet her, some don’t. They all seem very angry, serious or brave, doing their labors, such as cutting wood, building a fire, making furniture, sewing clothes, cleaning fish; but most of them are training for battle. Practicing fight moves. And the most impressive thing is: they’re all being taught by queen Kira herself. 

Gabrielle walks some more until she reaches the foot of the mountain - which is still a part of the tribe. Inside a “cave” built in the mountain, there are two amazons standing by with their very sharp and pointy spears. When she makes the first move to enter, the two amazons block her way. 

“I demand to enter”, Gabrielle says. 

“And who are  **_you?_ ** ”, one of the amazons says. 

“Queen Gabrielle of the Telaquire tribe”, she speaks. 

They both keep staring at each other for too long. Finally, after some time, the two amazons clear the path and Gabrielle is allowed to walk freely inside the cave. 

The cave is the prison. The dungeons. 

As Gabrielle walks by, she sees some torches on the walls, and some cells built from scratch with heavy metal and wood.  **_The cells are full of men_ ** . They are scared to even look at her, and very injured. 

Gabrielle goes walking and looking at the prisoners. 

“Those men… are simply peasants”, she speaks in a low tone to herself. 

“Actually, they’re criminals”, Felya talks from behind Gabrielle. 

Gabrielle didn’t even see her before. She is startled as she turns around to see her. Felya walks to face Gabrielle. 

“They were caught fishing in our land, our rivers; slaying  **_our_ ** creatures, our deer. And when asked to return to their land, they didn’t obbey. And attacked us”, Felya goes on.

A movement happens inside one of the cells, like one man coughed or scoffed or something. She looks deadly at the cell, and the men retract with fear. 

“Did they injury any of you?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Yes”, is the simple answer Felya gives her. 

Gabrielle looks at one of the prisoners; it’s a young man with beard that looks back at her with a daring look. 

“How long are they staying here?”, she asks without dodging the look from the man. 

“Not long”, Felya says. “We have executions every week”

Gabrielle turns her head to her, looking at her in disbelief. 

“ **_Executions?_ ** Those men are sentenced to death?”

“Yes”

“This is… this…”

“This is  **_what_ ** , queen Gabrielle? Justice? At last? Because I agree”, with that being said Felya leaves Gabrielle behind.

“ **_...a massacre_ ** ”, Gabrielle finishes by herself. 

“You know…”, the man that stared at Gabrielle begins to speak in a low tone. “I have heard of the amazons before, and I always respected those brave women. But in my mind I had the fake conviction that they were fair” 

Gabrielle gets closer to the cell to respond:

“We  **_are_ ** fair”

“That’s funny, because that’s not the impression we all got”, he gestures at all the other men, who observe him. “Your friend is lying. We didn’t attack anyone. We were fishing… in their rivers, that’s true, but we didn’t know that. They didn’t ask us to leave. They just drew their swords and attacked us. If a man is sentenced to death for trying to defend himself, I don’t know what became of justice and our god Athena”

Gabrielle swallows hard; this is what she feared. 

“I was sent here from another tribe to investigate”, she speaks. “This tribe here… it’s following different rules, it’s going rogue, and we can’t let that happen”

The man stands up and approaches the cell. He grabs the bars. 

“Neither can we”, he says. 

“I only have five other amazons with me here”, Gabrielle speaks. 

“I have an army outside”, the man says. “Or well, my brother does, and he’s definitely looking for me”

“No, you can’t  **_attack_ ** them”

“Do you have any better idea, sweet cheeks?”

Gabrielle clenches her jaw and thinks as she looks at his eyes. 

“I need to find out why they’re doing this”, she responds. 

“It’s because of me”, another man says. 

Gabrielle turns her face to look at him.

It’s an old man, he’s sitting alone in a cell for himself with nothing but a chair. His wrinkly face is tired, his mouth is dry and bloody, his eyes are almost lifeless. His clothes are covered in blood. 

Gabrielle approaches his cell. 

“Who are you?”, she asks. 

“My name is Celvius”, he speaks as he looks at her with no hope. “Retired roman general”

“Why do you say this is your fault?”

“Because… many years ago, when I still served Rome, I attacked this tribe”, he says. “Did terrible things to those women.  **_Terrible things…_ ** ”, his eyes are lost as he looks down. “Especially to queen Kira, who back then was only a child”

Gabrielle’s eyes are dark. She’s angry at the man. 

“So  **_your_ ** sentence seems about right”, she speaks. “Whatever it might be”

“It is”, Celvius talks again. “But those innocent men don’t deserve the same”

“Why, again, is this your fault?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Because queen Kira only became queen a couple of months ago”, he says. “That’s when it all began. The first thing she did was to invade my house and bring me here. I’ve been here for all this time, being tortured… But this, this anger she has inside her, this anger that I created, she pours over all men”

“So you think she hates all men”, Gabrielle understands. 

“I know she does”, Celvius says again. 

“That explains it”, the first man that spoke to Gabrielle says again. He spits with anger at the Celvius cell. “You  **_disgusting pig_ ** , waste of meat”

Celvius doesn’t say anything, he just sighs. 

“If you only knew how regretful I am...”, he whispers. 

Gabrielle looks at him and almost feels sorry for that deplorable image. 

“I’ll discuss this with my amazons”, Gabrielle says. “And I’ll stop the executions”

“Don’t stop  **_tonight’s_ ** execution, child”, Celvius looks at her with a small, sad smile. “It’s finally  **_my turn_ ** to pay for my sins”

She only looks at him and doesn’t say word. She begins to walk away from the cave, but the first man stops her by almost grabbing her arm.

“Hey, hey, blondie, blondie!”, he speaks, and she stops to look at him. “My name is Cole. Please, take this”, he rips off his bear necklace and gives it to Gabrielle. “If you need an army soon, look for my brother and give this to him. He’ll know it’s from me. His name is Basil, and his men are north from the river”

Gabrielle accepts the necklace, looks at it, and then back at Cole.

“Thank you”, she says. 

“Thank  **_you_ ** ”, he smiles at her with kindness. 

She smiles back, feeling a little bit of hope, and walks away from the cave. 

***

Nighttime. 

Amazons’ tent. 

They’re all gathered around the table, Gabrielle, Frona and the other four amazons that came with them from the Telaquire Table. 

“What do you got?”, Gabrielle asks, looking at each one of them. 

Frona speaks first:

“The teacher is teaching the little girls to hate men. I overheard she explaining that boys born from amazons are killed”

Gabrielle shakes her head with this.

“That has always been a lie”, she speaks. “Who else?”

“I just saw them bringing in a centaur as prisoner”, another amazon, Phoebe, says. 

“ **_A centaur?!_ ** ”, Gabrielle’s eyebrows rise up. “We have been in  **_peace_ ** with centaurs for years now! Queen Kira is going to destroy everything we took so long to build…”

“I actually kind of relate to their way of living”, Melaisa, another one, says as she shrugs. “I never liked men anyway”

They all stare at her. 

“How can you say that?”, Frona is aggressive with her. “Don’t you see she  **_hates_ ** men? Even the good ones?”

“I am yet to meet a good man”, Melaisa faces her. The tension is on. 

“Regardless”, Gabrielle goes on. “I went to the prison. It’s a cave north from here. It’s filled with men… not only criminals, but simple fishermen who committed no crime whatsoever”

“But why?”, asks another amazon, Semele. 

“Because”, Gabrielle sighs with the thought. “Queen Kira was heavily attacked… and abused by a retired roman general that is here. And ever since she became queen, she has been implanting this hatred for men policy”

“Sounds right to me”, Melaisa says again, and receives a bad look from Frona. 

“The point is she is crossing the amazon rules”, Gabrielle’s voice is firmer now. “And I need to speak to her about it”

Before anyone could respond, an amazon from the Orestis tribe opened the tent, interrupting them. 

“Excuse me, queen Gabrielle”, she speaks. “You missed dinner. But now all the amazons are summoned to witness the main execution that is happening now”

“Thank you, we will be right there”, Gabrielle says and forces a smile. 

The amazon leaves the tent. 

“We must stop this now!”, Frona hits her fist on the table. 

“No”, Gabrielle looks at her. “The man that is being executed tonight committed grave crimes against the Amazon Nation”, they all look at her as she says: “He’s getting what he deserves”

***

Orestis tribe. Nighttime. 

All the amazons are gathered in the small agora, where a big stage rises in the center, and queen Kira is there, holding a sword with her hand. There’s a tree stump in front of Celvius, whose hands are tied behind him, in which he’ll lay his head for it to be cut off. 

Torches are everywhere. 

Gabrielle and the others join the Orestis tribe. Drums are playing to give a heavy sensation to the air. 

Queen Kira lifts a fist to the air and the drums stop, so do the excited screaming voices. Now there is only silence. 

“Sisters”, she begins in a loud voice. She’s dressed in ceremonial clothes, covered in some animal’s blood. “Tonight we will execute a man that was praised for his crimes, promoted for his slaughters and honored for his abuses. Tonight one more man dies, and not only a  **_man_ ** , but a repugnant one. Men think we need them, but it is  **_them_ ** who need us. When they get old and invalid, it is the women who have to care for them. When they need clean clothes, they tell women to wash. They tell women to feed their sons. Men don’t choose wives, they choose  **_slaves_ ** ”, the amazons scream cheering, and some yell hateful words. “They think they rule the world because they’re stronger than us. So, when we impose, they hit us, and they claim the position of more powerful. Tell me, amazons, is power equal to physical strength? Don’t intelligence and abilities count? Is strength all there is? A man can be strong, but stupid and evil, and  **_that_ ** means he is powerful?”

The amazons scream in anger and excitement. 

“Exactly”, queen Kira continues when there’s silence again. “No. But men think so. Men… are this world’s problem. This man in particular is a very good example”, she points at Celvius with her swords. “ **_Kneel_ ** ”

He does as told. He kneels, and is closer now to the tree stump. His eyes are not focused on anything. 

“Tell me, general Celvius… do you have any last words?”, queen Kira asks him. She’s almost crying. 

The man speaks:

“I spent fifteen years of my life regretting how I lived it. I had no wife or sons, because I did not want my blood to spread. If a child carried my blood, I would kill it, for it’s poisoned. Tartarus always scared me, therefore I never had the courage to take my own life. The worst torture I had to go through wasn’t here when you ripped off my fingernails with a knife. It was those fifteen years I had to live with myself. The guilt crushed my soul”

Those words hit Gabrielle deeply, and her eyes water. She thinks of Xena. 

Celvius looks at queen Kira. He’s not crying, but she is dropping some tears. 

“I am sorry for what I did to your tribe. I am sorry for what I did to  **_you_ ** . I hope killing me will bring you peace”, he continues. 

“ **_Lay your head on the wood_ ** ”, she speaks with so much anger she even drools a little. 

Celvius does as told. He lays his head on the tree stump.

Some tears roll down Gabrielle’s cheek and drop from her chin. 

“It is  **_easy_ ** to be sorry when you’re invalid and elder”, Kira continues with hatred. “When you have nothing else to do other than think. It’s  **_easy_ ** to regret now that you’re limited by your own malfunctioning body” 

And, with a scream, queen Kira cuts his head off. (Scene doesn’t appear, it cuts when his head is cut off, and turns to Gabrielle, who closes her eyes right after)

The amazons begin screaming and celebrating like they’re all inebriated, but queen Kira only drops her sword to the ground and falls on her knees, crying desperately. And the celebration begins.

Food, music, alcohol. Some amazons grab the man’s head and his body and get rid of it. Queen Kira doesn’t want to participate; she goes back to her tent. 

***

The next day. 

Gabrielle tries to enter the queen’s tent, but again she is blocked by two amazons. 

“I need to speak with queen Kira”, she says. 

“Let her in”, queen Kira speaks from inside the tent. 

The two amazons let her in.

“Queen Gabrielle”, Kira says as she drinks tea from a cup standing up close to her bed. “To what do I owe the honor?”

“I… am here to talk about last night’s execution”, she speaks. 

Kira gets super serious. 

“What about it?”, she offers Gabrielle some tea, who accepts it from another cup. 

“Thank you. I couldn’t help but notice… the **_hatred_ ** you and your tribe have towards men”

“So?”

“So… I understand that you hate them. But not **_all_ ** men are evil. I know some very kind ones”

“I don’t care, Gabrielle. I just don’t care”

“That is no excuse from capturing every man you can find around there and executing him”

Kira points a finger at Gabrielle with anger. 

“That man  **_wasn’t_ ** a man a found around there”, she speaks with big eyes. “I hunted him down personally”

“I’m talking about the other prisoners”, Gabrielle says. 

“Oh, yes, I heard you and your women were curious cats around my tribe”, she drinks one more sip of her tea. “Entering the cave and everything”

“I was sent here to ascertain if you’re still following the amazons rules, queen Kira, and I clearly see you are  **_not_ ** ”

“Men are worthless, Gabrielle, when are you going to understand that?”

Gabrielle stops to think. She drinks her tea and looks at Kira. 

“This is not the best way to deal with this”

“It is the  **_only_ ** way men understand”

Gabrielle sighs. 

“Did it bring you peace?”

“What?”

“Did killing Celvius bring you peace, queen Kira?”

Queen Kira bites her inner cheek and whispers:

“No”

“If there’s one thing I learned is that vengeance brings no peace and only hurts the avenger”, Gabrielle speaks again. “Please, stop with this, queen Kira. I don’t want to have to bring you to the amazon council” 

Kira smiles. 

“Bring me to the amazon council?”, she laughs. “How are  **_you_ ** going to do that? But please do.  **_Please do_ ** , queen Gabrielle. Instead of convicting me for crimes you believe I committed, they’ll  **_praise_ ** me and  **_join_ ** me. Didn’t you see Felya? When she learned about what we’re doing, she joined us. And I could bet… one of my fingers that at least  **_one_ ** of your amazons is already changing her mind… and thinking of joining us”

Gabrielle is silent. She knows Kira is telling the truth. But she also knows this is wrong. 

“At least release the centaur you took in yesterday”, Gabrielle speaks, feeling like she lost the first battle. “I have personally worked hard for amazons and centaurs to be in peace. And they’re only half men anyway”

Queen Kira finishes her tea and thinks. 

“You make good points”, she speaks. “Alright, I’ll give you that. He’ll be released”

“Thank you”, Gabrielle says. 

“You  **_really_ ** should join us, Gabrielle”, Kira goes on. “You should join  **_me_ ** ”

“Thank you, but my beliefs are elsewhere”

Gabrielle puts her cup back on the table and leaves the tent. Queen Kira sighs as she observes Gabrielle leaving. 

***

Gabrielle is outside the tribe, in the forest. She’s following the river. Finally she sees a camp of men, and she walks right in. 

“Hey, you stop right there!”, some men spot her and point their swords at her. 

She raises her hand in peace. 

“I’m here to talk to Basil”, she speaks. “I have word from his brother, Cole”

A man passes through the other men; he’s tall with a clean face, and obviously in charge. 

“Cole?”, he speaks. “You heard of my brother? For the gods’ sake, lower your swords!”

All the men obey him. 

Gabrielle looks at him. 

“Are you Basil?”, she asks. 

“Yes”, he answers; he looks kind just like his brother. 

Gabrielle takes the bear necklace Cole gave to her and she delivers it to him.

“He asked me to give you this and you’d believe me”, she says. “He was captured by the Orestis amazons”

Basil gently grabs the necklace and looks at Gabrielle. 

“Then I’m going to rescue him”

“Wait… I need your help”, she talks. “He said you’d help me. I… am too an amazon, but from another tribe. This Orestis tribe has been capturing innocent men because… well, they hate men. And that stains the Amazon name. We don’t want that. We need to take the tribe to the council, but I fear they won’t go willingly”

Basil thinks. 

“Let’s talk inside my tent”

***

Inside Basil’s tent.

“Now that the plan is ready, we just have to wait until nightfall”, he speaks. 

“Do you think your men can handle the job?”, Gabrielle asks him.

“They sure can”, he smiles at her. “You said that, counting the prisoners, we will outnumber them?”

“Yes, I believe so”

“Perfect”

***

Nighttime. 

Orestis tribe. The amazons are doing their thing, preparing dinner and all. 

Those two amazons guarding the cave of prisoners are still there, undaunted. 

Frona approaches them. 

“Queen Gabrielle asked me to come and talk to one of the prisoners”, she speaks. 

“You are not queen Gabrielle nor queen Kira, therefore you cannot enter”, one of them says. 

“But I must give this to him”, she has both her hands closed as if she’s holding an egg. 

“What is that?”, the other one inquires. 

“It’s too small for you to see, come closer”

They both come closer.

Frona opens her hands and there’s nothing there, but by the time the amazons notice that, they’re having their heads smashed against each other’s. They fall down unconscious. She grabs the keys of the cells from one of their waist. 

Frona enters the cave running, faces the prisoners and says.

“Now you all listen to me very carefully. You will go out of this cave and head left. There are three big and heavy ladders leaned on the wall. You’re all going to climb those ladders and jump to the other side of the wall of the tribe. The last men are going to lift the ladders and throw them to the other side of the wall, outside. There, you’re going to meet an army of men lead by a man named Basil and join them. They’ll tell you the rest of the plan”

The men are silent.

“Did you all understand?”, she asks.

The men say “yes”, “understood”. 

Frona, then, opens the cells of all of them, and they run to the exit of the cave, following her instructions. Everything with lots of silence. 

They all climb the ladders and jump to the other side, moaning as they fall to the ground.

Cole meets his brother, Basil, in the dark forest, and they hug. 

“It’s nice to see you, man”, Cole says with a big smile. 

“It’s the seventh time I have to rescue you”, Basil replies. “And each time it gets more exciting”

They laugh some, and more and more men join them. 

***

Gabrielle is walking in the tribe with two other amazons close to her (not Melaisa), heading to queen Kira’s tent. 

***

The men that escaped get some swords and weapons with Basil’s army that is right there outside the walls. The last men escaping bring the ladders to the other side of the wall - to outside. 

***

“May I speak with queen Kira?”, Gabrielle asks the only one amazon that is guarding the tent. 

“She’s not here”, she answers. “She went to see the prisoners”

“Oh”, Gabrielle tries to hide her nervousness. She exchanges looks with her women. “Thank you, I’ll be back later”

They turn around and begin to walk very fast. 

***

The men, now armed, alongside with Basil’s army, set the ladders on the walls and begin climbing it in silence (to reenter the tribe). 

***

Queen Kira walks alone towards the cave. The torches on the wall and on the tents illuminate her path. 

***

When Gabrielle and the other two amazons aren’t between the tents anymore, they start to run. 

“Quickly!”, she says to them. 

***

Queen Kira gets to the cave and find her two warriors unconscious on the floor. She stops and stares with big eyes. Then, she runs inside the cave to find… it empty. She screams:

“ **_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ ** ”

***

The men jump to the tribe and gather. When Basil lands, he whispers to all of them:

“Remember. Let’s  **_not_ ** spill blood. We will surround them and they will surrender because they’re outnumbered”

***

Queen Kira is running back to the center of the tribe with her sword up and screaming:

“ **_THE PRISONERS ESCAPED! THE PRISONERS ESCAPED!_ ** ”

***

Basil and his men hear that and Cole says:

“Oh damage”

“That’s not part of the plan”, another man speaks. 

“Men”, Basil breathes in and out. “I think we will have to fight for our lives”

***

Gabrielle and the other two amazons meet queen Kira, who immediately attacks Gabrielle with her sword. Thankfully, she dodges the attack. 

“ **_You did this!_ ** ”, queen Kira speaks with rage. “You released the prisoners!”

“There was no other way”, Gabrielle speaks as she takes her sai from her boots and arms herself. 

A horn is heard over the four winds. 

Some amazons come running, amazons from the Orestis tribe. 

“THE PRISONERS ESCAPED”, queen Kira screams at them. “GO FIND THEM!”

A fight begins. 

Queen Kira is fighting with Gabrielle as the other amazons fight with the Orestis tribe ones. 

The men advance and fight with the amazons out of nowhere. 

They’re all fighting, it’s a true battle inside the tribe. 

Amazons die, men die. It’s a slaughter. 

Queen Kira fights really well and she’s a lot taller than Gabrielle, which makes it harder for the blondie. 

“Please surrender”, Gabrielle speaks once she has queen Kira wrapped with her arms from behind. “You’re outnumbered. There’s an army here too”

“You are a  **_traitor_ ** ”, queen Kira says and elbows Gabrielle on the ribs. “Allying yourself with  **_men_ ** to attack your own sisters”

They fight some more; Gabrielle spills blood. It’s chaos all around them. Everyone is battling. 

“Men only  **_take_ ** ”, Kira says. “They take from you things you didn’t even know you had. And they give you **_nothing_ ** ”

“Some men do”, Gabrielle rolls to the side on the ground to escape from Kira’s sword that would have crossed her chest. 

“You’re too intelligent, Gabrielle, I can see that”, Kira says as she spits blood to the ground. “I can’t know why you decide to waste your intelligence believing men are anything but  **_thieves of souls_ ** ”

“And I can’t let you blame the innocent men for the evil ones’ deeds”

Gabrielle finally manages to climb on top of Kira, disarm her, and point one sai at her chest and one at her neck. 

“Surrender **_now_ ** ”, she demands. “Your amazons are dying”

“I’d rather die”, Kira says with disgust. 

“ORESTIS TRIBE”, Gabrielle screams. “SURRENDER NOW OR YOUR QUEEN DIES”

The amazons stop fighting to look at her. 

“Queen Kira dies”, she goes on. “And  **_I_ ** become your queen and  **_order_ ** you to surrender”

They all seem to consider that. 

The men are waiting for their responses, with their weapons pointed at them. 

The Orestis tribe amazons drop their weapons. 

“Tie them up!”, Basil orders, and their men begin to tie the amazons. 

“You’ll regret this, Gabrielle”, Kira says to her. “When men take from you, you’ll regret this”

“Let’s hope this day never comes”

Gabrielle slides off the queen’s body when one man approaches to tie her up. 

***

Gabrielle shakes wrists with Cole. 

“Thank you for your help, and your brother’s”, she says. 

“It’s my pleasure”, Basil approaches them with a smile. “My army will keep them well behaved until the amazon council gets here. Well behaved, well fed, well cleaned, and healthy”

“Thank you, Basil”, Gabrielle says again. “Unfortunately I have to leave right away”

“What? You’re not staying? I thought you were part of the council”, Cole says. 

“I am, but I have something more important to do”, Gabrielle replies. “Besides, given the events, they all know where I stand”, she sighs. “It will be a shame to miss the first judgement of one whole tribe in History, though”

“I’ll send you a messenger bird”, Cole says and smiles. 

Gabrielle smiles back. 

“I’ll see you”, and she walks away to her horse. 

***

Gabrielle rides her horse for day and night until she reaches Thebes. 

She stops by an inn and enters it. It’s nighttime and everything is very homey and cozy with torches on the walls and fireplaces. 

Gabrielle stands in front of a wooden door, the door to a room of the inn, and she knocks twice. 

“Come on in, Gabrielle”, Xena says from inside. 

Gabrielle opens the door.

“How did you know it was me?”, she speaks as she closes the door behind her. 

“I saw you from the window putting your horse to the stables”, Xena answers. She is on the bed, sharpening her sword. “The question is: how did  **_you_ ** know I was here?”

“I asked around in town”, Gabrielle shrugs. 

Xena coughs a laughter. 

“You always knew your way around town people”, she says. 

“Xena, I… there’s something I want to say to you”, Gabrielle is nervous and fidgeting. 

Xena stops sharpening her sword, puts it aside, rests her hands on her knees and looks at Gabrielle, waiting. 

“I am sorry”, Gabrielle begins. “I always see everyone blaming you for what you did, and I never thought I would be one of those people. Gods, I even get  **_mad_ ** at those people. You’re not the same person you were before, Xena, and you  **_can’t_ ** carry this guilt with you”

Xena’s eyes become softer, and Gabrielle sits on the bed next to her. 

“I know you regret everything that you did… But you’re someone else now. You redeemed yourself, and I am so proud of you, Xena. I don’t think I ever told you how proud of you I am. What I said to you… was unfair and not true. I could  **_never_ ** hate you. I can’t.  **_I love you_ ** , Xena. Can you forgive me?”

By this time, Gabrielle has tears on her eyes. 

Xena puts an arm around her and brings her to herself. 

“Of course I can, come here”, she holds her, and Gabrielle holds her back, crying. “I’m glad you came back”

“Me too”, Gabrielle sobs. “I can’t… express how sorry I am… and ashamed”

Xena kisses her temple; gently turns to her, cups her chin and makes her look to her. 

“Don’t feel that way, alright? Everything is fine now”, Xena says. “Everything is fine”

They keep on holding each other and Gabrielle keeps crying. 

***

The audience, back in the tavern, is up, rising and applauding like never before. 

Some people even had tears on their eyes, including Seneca. He walks to the stage and gives Gabrielle one big hug, that she returns with surprise and happiness. 

“Thank you for that story”, he says to her when he pulls apart but keeps holding her by the shoulders. “It’s one to live by”

“Thank you, Seneca, I appreciate it”, Gabrielle responds. 

“It was the best gift I was ever given”, he smiles and turns his back to walk away. 

Petra, still applauding, approaches.

“Wow, Gabrielle, that was so… moving… Thank you for sharing”, she says. 

“I did what you told me”, Gabrielle responds. “And it feels good”

They begin walking away from the stage, towards the balcony of the bar. They’re smiling at each other. 

“Oh by the way”, Gabrielle takes from her backpack a scroll and hands it to Petra. “It’s tonight’s story”

“Already?!”, Petra grabs the rolled parchment and her eyes shine. “Thank you!”

“I’m a fast writer”

They sit by the counter and order food. 

“Gabrielle, I was wondering, would you like to go pick some flowers with me tomorrow?”, Petra dares. “There’s a field closeby and it is spring time, which means they’re all sprouting and colorful”

Gabrielle looks at her. They share a look: Petra’s is full of admiration. Gabrielle’s full of curiosity. 

“Of course, I’d love to”, Gabrielle answers, and she picks up her mug and drinks from it. 

Petra bites her lower lip and smiles back. 

From the other side of the tavern, Erastus is looking at them, with Remy, his bird, on his shoulder. 

“One more story that has nothing of what we are looking for, Remy”, he speaks to his bird and sighs. “I guess I’ll have to plant the seed once again…”

**END OF EPISODE #5**

  
  



	6. Episode 06 - Fishing the fishermen

**EPISODE #6, “** **FISHING THE FISHERMEN** **”.**

It’s a sunny day, a beautiful day, and Gabrielle is with Petra on a large field full of the most colorful flowers. They have baskets and they’re picking the flowers and putting them inside the baskets. 

“Quite a coincidence that you invited me to pick up flowers on the same day of the offerings to Aphrodite”, Gabrielle says as she grabs some yellow flowers. 

Petra seems a little nervous as she asks:

“Why?”

“Because I had the feeling we were going to pick up flowers for the simple act of picking up flowers”, Gabrielle answers. “ _ But  _ we might as well fill Aphrodite’s temple with those”

“I didn’t remember it was offering day”, Petra responds, she seems to blush a little.

Gabrielle looks at her and Petra smiles. 

“Oh…”, Gabrielle exclaims.

“I just wanted to spend time with you”, Petra says. “Filling Aphrodite’s temple with flowers also sounds like a good idea. Maybe she might answer my prayers”

“Looking for love, are we?”

“Who isn’t?”

“Well, I, for one”

Petra stops and looks at her. She looks disappointed, even sad. 

“You’re not?”, she asks. 

Gabrielle thinks some. 

“I guess… when you lose someone you loved very dearly, you don’t seem able to want to look for someone new”, she answers. “Because no one could replace them…”

Petra comes closer to her. 

“But that’s the thing, isn’t it?”, she smiles. “You shouldn’t expect someone to  **_replace her_ ** . No one ever will. Every person is unique and different, that’s what makes everyone so… special. And that is a good thing, you know. People might surprise you”

Gabrielle looks at her very deeply, taking in her words. 

“You’re right, Petra”, Gabrielle says at last. And shrugs. “Even so, I’m doing just fine on my own. I feel good for the first time since… Well for the first time in **_months_ ** ”

Petra gives her a sad smile. 

“I understand”, she says. “I’m happy for you”

“Thank you”, Gabrielle smiles at her.

Suddenly, they hear a high-pitched whistle noise coming from the sky. Both women look up and see Remy, Erastus’ messenger bird, flying around with his big wings open. 

“It’s Erastus’ bird”, Petra says as she covers her eyes from the sun. “Looks like he’s coming towards us”

They keep watching the bird as he approaches. 

“He wants to land!”, Petra speaks again. “Reach out your arm!”

Gabrielle does so, putting the basket down on the ground, and a moment later, his claws are closing around her arm as he closes his wings gracefully. He has a tiny parchment tied to one of his legs. 

“There’s a message here, from Erastus I believe”, Gabrielle says with curiosity as she gently grabs the little parchment and opens it with one hand. She reads: “ _ Gabrielle, my daughter, your fan number one, asked if you’ve been in any adventures with mermaids. Love, Erastus _ ”

Gabrielle smiles immediately. 

“Well, that was subtle”, Petra speaks, smiling herself. 

Gabrielle folds the little paper, puts it inside the basket with the flowers and looks at Remy to say:

“You can go now”

The bird takes off and flies away. She turns to Petra. 

“I already know which story I’m telling tonight”, she says.

“I figured”, Petra answers. “Something related to… let me think… the sea? Or something?”

They both smile with her little joke. 

“Wow, your guessing skills are really good!”

They giggle again. 

Both of them grab their baskets, that are filled with flowers. 

“I think we have enough flowers”, Petra says.

They begin to walk side by side back to the village. 

“Aphrodite is going to get really happy with those”, Gabrielle speaks. “She loves colorful things. She most likely will answer your prayers”

Petra shrugs. 

“I don’t really think she will anymore”, she says. 

“How come?”, Gabrielle looks at her. 

“I think I changed my mind about asking her”

They exchange a look. 

***

The forest, day time. 

Some voices are heard. 

“Will you stop moving? It’s the first time Amarice leaves us and we don’t know how long she’ll take to come back”, it’s Xena’s voice. “We must  **_use_ ** this alone time”

“I know, but  **_do you have to be so rough?_ ** ”, it’s Gabrielle’s voice. 

“It’s been **_forever_ ** , Gabrielle!”

“That is no excuse, you  **_have_ ** to be gentle”

Xena groans. 

“You’re so weak when it comes to pain”, Xena mumbles in a bad mood. 

“OUCH!  **_XENA!_ ** I told you to be gentle!!!”

Finally they appear. Xena, pregnant, is rubbing a stone against Gabrielle’s foot’s sole. Gabrielle is sitting on a big rock and so is Xena, in front of her.

“How do you expect me to be gentle when this callus grew  **_so big_ ** it even looks like another foot growing out of you?!”

Gabrielle sighs. 

“It’s been a while since I last rubbed it”, she replies. 

“No.  **_You_ ** never rub it.  **_I_ ** always rub it for you. But  **_someone_ ** is too shy of doing so in front of Amarice”

“She wouldn’t understand, alright?”, Gabrielle responds. “She’s young and pretty. Her boots are comfortable. She just wouldn’t understand. Besides, I wouldn’t have this other foot  **_growing out of my foot_ ** if  **_you_ ** didn’t decide to take the most awful, climby paths through the forest”

“Yeah, blame me if it makes you feel better”, Xena rubs with anger and Gabrielle lets out a painful moan. “But I’m not the one with the feet too big for the boots…”

“If you say that again…”, Gabrielle, out of breath, points a finger at Xena. 

Xena takes her time and looks Gabrielle in the eyes to say the following slowly:

“ **_Titan feet_ ** ”

“Alright, that’s it”, Gabrielle retracts her foot. “No more rubbing today”

“Let me at least put on the herbal unguent we bought in the last village”, Xena says between giggles. 

Gabrielle looks at her with anger. 

“Fine”, she responds and gives her foot back to Xena. 

Xena gently applies the unguent and Gabrielle begins to feel better. 

“Thank the gods for that unguent”, she says in relief. 

Xena smiles at her, and wraps her foot gently with a strap of fabric. 

“All done here”, she says. “This should do for some more days”

“Thanks”, Gabrielle replies. She puts her foot inside the boot again. 

“My pleasure”, Xena keeps smiling. “Now let’s get this fire started, it’s beginning to get dark”

As Gabrielle gets up to grab the sticks, they hear a noise. It’s a noise on the bushes close by, too strong to be an animal.

They look at each other. 

Xena draws her sword and Gabrielle her sai from her boots. Xena makes a silence signal to Gabrielle, who simply nods in agreement. 

They silently approach the noise that keeps repeating itself. 

Finally they reach it. 

Xena pushes the bushes to the side with her sword to reveal…

**_...Joxer_ ** . 

He’s squatted on the ground, with his back to them, drawing on the dirt with his sword, talking to himself. 

“Okay, so if they’re here, I have to go all the way around here for them not to hear me… and then… I climb this tree”, he’s saying. 

Xena and Gabrielle share a fun look. 

“Once I climbed the tree, I’ll grab a very strong vine - has to be strong, I am a strong man, and heavy too - and  **_jump_ ** like Attis, the ape man! Xena and Gabrielle will be so scared they’ll never know what hit them”, and he laughs with himself. Then, he shushes himself. “Silence… they have very good ears”

Xena sheathes her sword as Gabrielle does the same with her sai. 

Joxer keeps mumbling. 

Xena is getting ready to scare the sh*t out of Joxer, she even cracks her fingers and her neck. But Gabrielle puts a gentle hand on her shoulder and makes her look at her. She points at herself with her eyebrows raised, silently asking Xena to let her be the one to scare Joxer. 

Xena, then, nods and gestures to the front, which means Gabrielle can go and do as she will. 

It’s Gabrielle’s turn to crack her neck. She loosens her shoulders, relaxes and gets ready. She, then, covers her mouth with both hands, making a tunnel with them for her voice, and does a very good impression of a lion roaring. 

**INTRO PLAYS**

Joxer jumps and screams; he gets up so fast that he hits his head against a branch that was right above him and falls down on his butt, almost unconscious. Then, he wakes up fully, and repeats everything, until he is down again, completely unconscious. 

Xena and Gabrielle are laughing like hienas. Xena clears a tear.

“Oh gods, that was such a great roar”, she says. 

“I know, right?”, Gabrielle responds. And she looks at Joxer. “Do you think he’s alright?”

“Yeah, he is”, Xena speaks. “That helmet of his might be ugly, but it’s good”

Xena kneels beside Joxer and slaps him in the face some times. 

“Joxer. Joxer, wake up. Joxer”

Joxer begins to come back to consciousness. 

“Uh… what… Xena…”, he says. He focuses his eyes on her. “Xena!  **_LOOK OUT_ ** ”, he immediately gets up, grabs his sword and points to the bushes. “There’s a beast here, a very vicious one…”

Xena and Gabrielle share a knowing look. They’re having fun at his expense. 

“Oh yeah?”, Xena asks as she gets up and crosses her arms over her big belly. “Did you get to  **_see_ ** this…  **_beast?_ ** ”

Joxer, still trembling and focused on the bushes with his sword pointing at them, responds:

“Y-yeah, I got to see it, I saw it!!!”

“And how was it?”, at this time, Xena only has eyes and smiles for Gabrielle. “Big and evil?”

“ **_Very_ ** big and  **_very_ ** evil”, Joxer answered. “With… with a lot of fur… and red eyes…”

Gabrielle covers her mouth to suppress her laughter from coming out. Xena is smiling big. 

“With  **_big feet?_ ** ”, she asks. 

Gabrielle shoots her an angry look, but still fun. 

“The **_biggest feet_ ** I’ve ever seen in my life!”, Joxer replies. 

Xena can’t help but to burst out laughing as Joxer turns around to see why. 

“What, what’s happening, why are you laughing, we are in heavy danger here!”, he speaks in despair. 

“Yeah, yeah, alright, Joxer”, Gabrielle puts an arm around his shoulder and guides him to their camp. “Why don’t we forget about the beast? Forget about it, I’m sure it had to go… take care of its feet”, she looks at Xena evilly. “Now why don’t you tell us what you are doing here? I thought you went to visit your brother”

Joxer seems to forget about the beast and puts his sword away. He begins explaining himself. 

“Well, I was, but turns out his wife - oh yes, he’s married now, can you believe? Anyway, his wife ate a bad clam and she’s been inside the bathroom this whole time, and let me tell you… the smell is all around the house. I couldn’t stay there for over one hour, I had to get out. So I picked out your trail and got here. But I wasn’t sure because I didn’t get Amarice’s trail”

“She had to go back to her tribe for a while”, Xena speaks. 

“Uh… okay… Xena, there’s something else”, Joxer says.

“ **_Of course_ ** there is”, Xena says with a knowing tone. 

“On my way here… I stopped by a village to get some supplies. Food, you know… it’s hard to find animals to hunt during winter time…”, he says, but then Gabrielle looks at herself, Xena and Joxer, and they’re not dressed for winter, which means it’s clearly summer and Joxer is just making an excuse because he can’t for the gods’ sake hunt. “...and something weird has been going on there”

“Like what?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Well, first of all, I didn’t see any men there”, Joxer goes on with his mysterious tone. “Which I couldn’t help but find interesting, let me tell you… Oh, and the  **_one_ ** man I saw there was being dragged by four women to the prison”

“And didn’t you ask what was going on there?”, Gabrielle asked. 

“Are you kidding me?”, Joxer chuckles. “They were  **_dragging_ ** the only man to the prison.  **_I’m_ ** a man!! I couldn’t stay there, they’d come after me!”

“What a chicken”, Gabrielle whispers. 

“Hey, if you were a man, you’d understand”, he points at Gabrielle. 

“That’s strange…”, Xena scratches her chin. “There were only women there?”

“Only women”, Joxer nods. 

“Are you sure you weren’t in Lesbos?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Uh, nice place”, Xena says. 

“Yeah, I think we should move there when we retire”, Gabrielle replies. 

“I couldn’t agree more”, Xena smiles at her. 

“ **_It wasn’t Lesbos!_ ** ”, Joxer intervenes. “It was a village just close by, by the ocean!”

“Something doesn’t feel right about this”, Xena speaks, looking at the beyond. 

“It doesn’t, I’m telling you”, Joxer agrees. “And I think you… we… we should go there to see what’s happening”

“Yeah, I agree”, Xena speaks. She comes out of her mysterious trance and looks at Gabrielle. “Can your foot hang in there?”

Gabrielle smiles, when she actually wants to spit some sharp answer, because she knows Xena’s messing with her. 

“It sure can”, she replies. 

“Then we’re going first thing tomorrow”

***

The sun rises. 

Xena’s riding a horse and Joxer’s behind her on the horse. Gabrielle has her own. They’re riding towards the horizon. 

Finally, they reach a village by a beautiful beach. It has clear sand and, as Joxer said, only women walking around. They all dismount the horses when they’re close enough. 

“Only women, just like Joxer said”, Xena speaks as she watches everything with careful eyes. 

“They all look…  **_so sad_ ** ”, Gabrielle notes. “Whatever happened here?”

Then, a group of three women come in their direction, almost running. Joxer chickens out and hides behind Xena and Gabrielle, who roll their eyes and sigh. 

“Are you-are you Xena, the warrior princes?!”, the youngest, a girl of like ten years old, asks. 

“Yes, I am”, she responds. 

The women celebrate a little, feeling relieved. 

“The gods answered our prayers”, the oldest says. “We’ve been praying for someone to come and help us… and the gods sent you!”, she looks at Xena’s belly. “We just had no idea you were pregnant”, she looks at Joxer. “Are you the father?”

“M-me?”, Joxer asks. “No, no, I’m not… Gabrielle is”, he points at the blondie, who smiles. 

The woman is speechless, but then Xena asks:

“What’s going on here?”

“The men… the men have been taken”, the oldest says again. “They were all taken… when they were out in the sea, fishing”

“Taken by whom?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“By the mermaids”, the little girl responds. 

“The  **_mermaids?_ ** ”, Xena inquiries. “How do you know that?”

“The men usually go out to fish every day”, the middle aged woman, the third one, says. “They take their boats and fish nets, fishing rods and everything. One day, a week ago, they all went out to fish, as usual, since it’s summer, the waters are warmer and there are more fish…”

Xena and Gabrielle look at Joxer, who just swallows. 

“And they never came back. Except for  **_one_ ** man, who was lying unconscious on a piece of wood of the boat - which leads us to believe the boats were destroyed. We found him by the beach and took him in”

“He’s my father”, the little girl says. “His name is Atreus”

“But he wasn’t… normal”, the oldest resumes from where the other one stopped. “When he woke up, he wanted to go back to the sea. He was desperate; he wanted to swim to the depths of the sea to find ‘his love’. We could see he was under some kind of  **_spell_ ** ”

“Yesterday he tried to escape”, the little girl speaks. “He gnawed at the ropes that tied him down at the prison, broke down the bars, broke a leg but didn’t care… that didn’t stop him from running to the sea”

“We had to drag him back to the prison and increase the security”, the middle aged woman says. 

“Can we see him?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Yes… follow me”, the oldest says. 

“I want to go too”, the little girl speaks. 

“No, you have to help me milking the cows, remember?”, the middle aged says. 

The girl sighs and looks at Xena. 

“Please, help my dad”, she says. 

And she and the woman leave, as the other woman brings Xena, Joxer and Gabrielle to the prison to see Atreus. 

“My name is Amina”, the old woman says. “This has been a tough week for us. We basically depend on the fish to trade for other merchandise. Now we have been surviving out of eggs and milk”

“Has anyone tried to go after the men who disappeared?”, Xena asks. 

“No”, Amina responds. “We don’t have any more boats, just one old dinghy”

“How many men were there?”, Xena asks again.

“Around forty. The elderly are still here with us, obviously. But forty counting the young lads and men”

They finally reach the prison. It’s basically a barn with some cells. There’s only one man there. 

“There he is”, Amina says, pointing at him. 

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer get closer. 

The man is on the floor; he has chains around his wrists even though he’s locked behind bars. His eyes are clear like the sky, like if he’s blind, as he murmurs things to himself.

“Must go back to the ocean… to find my love”, is basically what he’s repeating in a trance. 

Xena gets closer to inspect him. She touches him with her finger, and he doesn’t react. 

“Does he eat?”, she asks Amina. 

“We leave some food and when we come back to see, it’s gone. So, yes, we believe”

“Hm”, Xena hums. “Those mermaids are different than the ones I faced when I travelled with Ulysses. Their spell remains even when they’re far away”

“So you think they’re mermaids too?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“What else could it be?”, Xena turns to her. 

“I don’t know… some kind of witchcraft…”

“No, this is mermaid work”, Xena says with certainty. “If the spell works for a long time, it means the men are probably  **_still alive_ ** , serving as toys for the mermaids. We’re going to rescue them”

***

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer are in front of all the women and old men/young boys from the village; they gathered everyone to make an announcement. 

“Listen up, all of you”, Xena begins. “We are going to help you bring your men back”

They all cheer up and celebrate a little. 

“But this is going to take a while”, Xena speaks again. “Because you don’t have any boats or ships and the next harbor is almost a month ride away. So we’re going to have to  **_build_ ** one”

Whispers come like waves. 

“And we are going to learn some more things. Gabrielle and I will teach you how to fish in the river nearby so you can still have your market moving. Joxer here is going to teach you how to hunt wild animals for feeding”, she puts a hand on his shoulder as he swallows dry and Gabrielle giggles. “And I will teach you how to build a big ship. Once the ship is ready, I’ll need six volunteers to come along to rescue the men”

One woman steps forward. 

“How do we even know they’re still alive?”, she asks. 

“That man on the prison, Atreus, he’s **_still_ ** under the mermaids’ spell”, Xena argues. “If there’s one thing I know is that mermaids’ songs work in community. When they want to seduce all men at once, they sing a song that puts  **_all of them_ ** under  **_the same spell_ ** . If the spell is still working, it means the men are still alive. When Atreus is released from the spell is the moment in which we must begin to worry”

The women whisper again, in fear. 

“Now hopefully the mermaids want to keep your men as pets for a long time”, Xena continues. “That would give us the time needed to build the ship. If I were you, I’d pray for  **_that_ ** ”

***

Some women are gathered in front of the river. Xena and Gabrielle are there. There are old men there too, they brought their little chairs and are sitting by the board of the river. 

“Making a fishing rod is not hard; all you have to do is grab a nice piece of branch and tie a thin, but strong, rope to it”, Gabrielle is showing some fishing rods she made. “The best hooks are made of bones, but I guess you don’t have much of those here, so you can use those tiny pieces of steel I added to the other end of the ropes, as you can see…”

The women are listen carefully. But one of the old men just laughs out loud and spits on the floor something he was chewing. 

“You got something to add there, sir?”, Xena asks him with an annoyed face. 

“This river doesn’t give any fish”, he answers. “You’re wasting your time”

“Every river gives fish, sir”, Gabrielle replies, super cordial. “I’m sure it will be no different with this one”

“Oh yeah? Wanna bet, blondie?”, the man says again. He’s being annoying. “If this river gave any fish, you think we wouldn’t be full of fish now? You think we, old men, don’t know how to fish? The village would be overflowing with fish”

“Has it occurred to your small brain that maybe you’ve been using the wrong bait all this time?”, Xena asks him. 

The man is silent, and he exchanges looks with his other fellows old men (about two or three).

“No?”, Xena repeats as she walks in front of them. “No one ever thought of that? What were you using as bait?”

“Worms”, another man replies. 

“Worms”, Xena repeats with a nod. “I thought so. The easiest bait. The bait most fish love. The universal bait”

“What is your point?”, the first old man asks. “Do you know any other kind of bait we can use or what?”

“Can you see that pool over there?”, Xena points with her thumb behind herself, where there’s a big pool of fresh water. It is not a river, but too small to be a lake. 

“Yeah, so?”, the man asks. 

“That little pool has all the bait you need”, she smiles at him. “And if you all come with me, I’m gonna show you”

Xena gestures for all of them to follow. Even Gabrielle doesn’t understand much of what she’s intending to do. Nonetheless, she follows Xena, obviously. 

They all leave their rods by the river and follow Xena. 

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you please, take your arm and dive it into the water until your shoulder and hold it there until you feel some little…  **_nibbles_ ** ”, Xena kneels and does as she herself just said. 

“ **_Nibbles?_ ** ”, one of the women asks. “Something’s going to  **_bite_ ** us?!”

“Not bite, just nibble”, Xena replies. “What? Scared of some little pain? Doesn’t hurt. Just sink your arms, come on, we all want those fish”

A little bit suspicious, they all do as told, and kneel and follow Xena’s instruction. 

“I… I can feel something burning a little”, one old man says. “Do I pull?”

“Leave it just some more seconds”, Xena replies with a naughty smile. 

“Xena, I don’t like this”, Gabrielle whispers next to her. “Something is literally biting me”

“Okay, everyone, pull out your arms!”, Xena commands after some seconds. 

They all pull out their arms. 

And they’re all being sucked by…  **_dozens of leeches_ ** . 

Some women scream, some faint, some look curiously at the little animals. 

Xena begins to pull off the leeches and placing them inside a little bag. 

“Now all of you gather your leeches and place them inside this bag”, after she’s done she goes from person to person collecting the leeches. 

When she gets to the man that didn’t believe her and Gabrielle, she smiled at him. 

He doesn’t smile back, just throw his leeches in the bag. 

***

The other half of women, plus some other old men/woman, are gathered in the middle of the woods with Joxer as their leader. 

“Well, beautiful ladies, my name is Joxer, the mighty, and I might be the only man around here for a long time, so you better form a line if you want a piece of me…”, he brags, but the women don’t say anything, they just look at him with annoyed expressions as he goes on. Seeing he would get no response, Joxer clears his throat and continues. “Uh, anyway, I’m going to teach you how to hunt wild animals to feed. Do any of you have some experience with hunting?”

“I do”, one strong woman steps forward. “My dad taught me”, she smiles at her father, who’s next to her. She’s holding a bow and she has a quiver full of arrows on her back. 

Joxer points at her.

“Great, that’s good, we can use your experience”

“But there’s one thing you should know, young lad”, her dad speaks. “There are wild boars around here, and even though their meat is tasty, they’re practically impossible to hunt down”

Joxer spits a laughter. 

“Nothing is impossible to Joxer, the mighty, sir”, he replies, bragging again (as he always does). “Just last night I faced the wrath of one of those wild boars…”

“Did you kill it?”, one of the women asks. “Did you kill the boar?”

“Well…”, Joxer says. “No… but I got really close to doing so”

The people kind of laugh, mocking him and not believing in him. 

“The fact is”, Joxer continues with renewed energy. “Today we are going to hunt a  **_wild boar_ ** ”

They all sigh, but one woman in particular is all heart eyes for him. 

***

Back to Xena and Gabrielle. 

They (and all the women and old men) have their rods (the hooks) inside the water of the river. One of the women begin screaming and shaking:

“I got it! I got one!”, she says. 

“Remember what we talked about”, Xena speaks. “Pull quickly for the hook to pierce!”

The woman does so and she brings out of the water, after some struggle, a big fish. 

She cheers, surprised, and the other women do so as well. She brings the fish to the land and puts him inside a bag that is half submerged under water (to keep the fish fresh and alive).

During that, Gabrielle helps her unhook the fish. 

“There you go, ladies”, Xena says with a smile. 

More women have their rod being pulled by fish, and they all get super excited and happy. 

“Well done! Tonight we feast with fish!”, Gabrielle speaks as Xena giggles. 

The old man that tried to mock Gabrielle is grumpy sitting on a little chair by the river as he didn’t catch any fish yet. He mumbles and grumbles and spits to the ground. But then, his face enlightens as he feels a pull on his rod. He smiles big and even stands up to fight with the fish. 

“Leeches!”, he speaks to himself. “Damn leeches!”

***

Joxer and the hunter woman are slowly and quietly walking in the middle of the forest. They struggle not to make any noise. Suddenly, Joxer turns to the woman with a serious look and reprehensive. 

“Did you  **_just_ ** step on a leaf?”, he asks. 

“Yeah”, she answers. 

“I told you to watch your step!! You’re making too much noise!”, Joxer whispers angrily. 

“We are in the middle of a  **_forest_ ** ”, the woman replies in the same tone. “The ground is  **_made_ ** of fallen leaves!”

“Yes, but-”

“But nothing”, she points at his feet. “ **_Look_ ** ”

He looks at his own feet and sees he’s stepping over lots of leaves himself. He, then, swallows, defeated, and shushes her. 

“Make less noise”, he mutters as she rolls her eyes. 

They walk a little bit more and a snore is heard. They stop as Joxer turns to the woman again. 

“Was that your stomach? Gabrielle and Xena better come home with lots of fish…”, he exclaims. 

“It wasn’t”, she replies, and she’s very serious as she points forward. “It was  **_him_ ** ”

They both look at the direction she pointed and see a big a** wild boar that is sniffing around. He’s scary as hell. Joxer swallows dryly, filled with fear, as he begins to unroll the rope he had wrapped around his shoulder. 

The woman quickly points an arrow at the boar. Joxer puts a hand on the arrow, stopping her. 

“We will stick to the plan”, he says. 

“Your plan is  **_stupid_ ** ”, she responds. “It’s not going to work”

“We will see about that”, Joxer is confident. 

He has the rope on his hands, and walks towards the boar. When he’s close enough, he whistles, and the boar sees him. 

“Yeah, that’s right, look at me”, Joxer mutters. He begins to spin the rope, like he’s going to lace a cow (like he’s a cowboy). 

The boar scrapes his paw on the ground as if he’s a mighty bull getting ready to hit the toreador. He breathes out heavily. 

Joxer looks into his eyes, and the boar looks into Joxer’s eyes. 

The boar begins to run to Joxer. Joxer, still spinning the rope, throws the rope in the boar as he passes (and Joxer dodges). The rope falls perfectly around the boar’s neck, and Joxer holds the other end of the rope with joy. 

“ **_Ha-ha!_ ** ”, he exclaims super content, looking at the woman. “I caught it! It worked!”

Joxer sees the boar never stops running, and loses the happy expression at once. 

“Uh-oh”, he says one second before being pulled by the rope violently. 

Now, Joxer is being dragged around the forest by the boar, who never stops running. Joxer’s screaming. 

***

Xena, Gabrielle and the rest of the women/old men are walking back to the village with lots of bags filled with fish. They’re all very happy, and they meet the rest of women/old men that are sitting around, on the edge of the forest, super bored. 

“Hey, how is it going with the hunting?”, Gabrielle asks the women there as they approach. 

“That  **_goof man_ ** entered the forest after wild boars with my daughter and didn’t come back”, an old man responds. 

“ **_Wild boars_ ** ?”, Xena asks with a worried/disappointed face. “I thought Joxer would begin with  **_squirrels_ ** or even ducks”

“He must be getting himself killed”, Gabrielle says as she sighs. 

“My daughter wouldn’t let anything happen to him”, the old man says again. “She’s very good with the bow”

“I hope so”, Xena replies. 

Suddenly, a scream. Joxer’s scream. He’s screaming for his life, and after some seconds, the wild boar, running like crazy, appears from the forest, dragging after him a very dirty Joxer who’s helpless and won’t let go of the rope that is connecting himself to the boar. 

It’s a spectacle. Everyone sees, everyone gets worried, and some laugh. 

Xena is watching and laughing with her arms crossed. 

“Xena…”, Gabrielle whispers to her. “Are we gonna help him?”

As if the boar wants to be seen, he runs back and forth, and Joxer hits his head against some branches and yells some more in despar. 

“In a moment”, Xena responds. 

Gabrielle is worried, though. They watch some more as Joxer gets dragged.

“ **_Xena…_ ** ”

“Alright, alright”, Xena sighs, grabs her chakram from her waist and throws it at the rope, cutting it sharply as Joxer is left behind for the boar, who disappears into the forest. 

The woman that accompanied him comes running and watches the scene. 

“Joxer, are you alright?”, Gabrielle asks as she approaches and kneels beside him. 

Joxer spits a mouthful of leaves. 

“I’m fine”, he replies, feeling angry and sad. 

“You could have let go of the rope, you know”, Xena says when she gets closer too. 

“It was a matter of pride”, Joxer answers and gets up, cleaning his clothes. “I hope you did better with the fishing…”

He turns his body to see the tons of women and old men walking back to the village with bags filled with fish. 

“Thought so”, he clears his forehead with the back of his hand, but it only ends up dirtying it even more. 

“Next time, start with small animals”, Gabrielle tells him. “Rats… or…”

“ **_Turtles…_ ** ”, Xena whispers, and receives an elbow to the ribs from Gabrielle. 

“Yeah, whatever…”, he says. 

“Let’s go back to the village, we have a fish stew to prepare”, Xena says. “And after that, some wood chopping”

They all head back to the village. 

***

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer are in front of the people of the village again; they gathered everyone to talk about new instructions. They’re close to the forest and the sun is high but we can see it will be setting soon. 

Xena is carrying a big bag, a VERY BIG bag on her shoulder. 

We can see people are happier because they ate good food (fish) today. 

“The old blacksmith of this village was kind enough to donate this to our cause”, Xena says as she throws the big bag on the ground and it reveals to contain many wood axes. “Everyone grab one and follow me into the forest”

She herself, Joxer and Gabrielle grabbed axes and entered the woods. 

“We’re gonna cut making a ‘V’ letter formed by both sides of the tree”, Xena speaks as she draws on a tree with a white stone. “Don’t stand in a position that hurts your back, and don’t hold the axe in a way that hurts your hands. We all wanna sleep well tonight”, she shares a look with Gabrielle. “Start in one side, and finish with the other one. When you see the tree is going to fall, yell loudly so no one gets hurt. I’ll teach you how to chop wood the right way when we have enough trees. Oh, and I’m gonna need lots of nails, so the blacksmith better be warned. Any questions?”

One woman raises her hand. 

“Yes?”, Xena asks. 

“What do we yell when the tree is falling?”, she asks. 

Xena almost rolls her eyes. 

“Whatever suits you”, she responds. “But if there’s no time, just yell ‘tree’ and we’ll all know”

The women nod. 

They all go inside the forest and begin cutting trees. 

Some women are having fun. 

Two young women talk to each other. The first one says:

“We’re learning all the men work. Soon enough we won’t even need the men anymore”

The second one laughs and agrees, responding:

“Tell me about it. I don’t even miss my boyfriend that much”

“We can take that ship we’re making and go fishing out in the sea ourselves”

“And leave the men to the mermaids!”

They laugh and giggle as they share one tree.

“They seem to be having fun”, Gabrielle speaks, observing from far the two women laugh as she and Xena share a tree.

“Not as much as me”, Xena replies with a smile as she goes cutting her half with extreme mastery.

Gabrielle smiles at her. 

“You love cutting things, don’t you?”, she asks. 

“Things, people… you name it”, Xena kids. “Hey, look at that”, she indicates Joxer with her head. 

Gabrielle looks behind. She sees Joxer sharing a tree with that woman that has a crush on him. He’s being flirty and pretending to be super macho to try to seduce the woman, who stares at him with heart eyes instead of cutting the tree. 

“They call me Joxer, the mighty, because I do mighty things”, Joxer is telling the woman as he cuts the tree (super wrongly, all over the place). 

“Like what?”, the woman asks. 

“Like…”, Joxer thinks. “Like saving villages in distress; damsels…”

“Damsels?”

“Yes, **_pheee!_ ** This word was only invented after  **_I_ ** saved dozens of them”

“Hey, Joxer”, Xena calls him. “Are you going to get the tree cutting right or what?”

Joxer immediately loses his macho posture and goes back to cutting the tree, trying to hit the same spot, and his crush does the same. 

“Sorry, Xena…”, he mumbles. 

“TREE!!!”, someone yells, and everyone turns their heads to look at the tree that is falling, and some dodge it. After it’s on the ground, two women high five each other (the ones who cut it).

“Well done, girls”, Xena says and smiles at them as she goes back to cutting. 

***

People are gathered on a big as hell table to eat dinner. They’re talking and it’s nighttime. 

Some elderly women serve the dinner: milk, fish and scrambled eggs. 

“Eggs”, one old man complains as he serves himself. “Beaten eggs… every day… all day…” 

“It is what we’ve got”, one of the old woman replies. 

“Yes, but does it have to be beaten every single day?”, a child asks. “I thought there were more than one way to make eggs…”

“There is”, Gabrielle says, attracting the looks from everyone on the table. “My gods, there are so many ways. You can boil them, scramble with cheese and milk; you can leave the yolk soft; you can make an omelette with those delicious herbs you got here; you can literally crack it open and let the water boil it pure; you can make a pie…”

Everyone looks at her stunned. 

“See”, the old man points at Gabrielle, speaking to the old woman. “This is what I’m talking about. Different ways to make eggs”

“I can show you how to make them if you want”, Gabrielle kindly offers the old woman. 

“Yes!”, everyone begins to cheer. 

The woman shoots Gabrielle an angry look, mumbles some stuff to herself, but then gives in and sighs. 

“Okay. First thing in the morning you’re with me in my kitchen, there”, she points at her house. 

“It will be my pleasure”, Gabrielle smiles politely as she eats the eggs, drinks the milk, and bites the fish. 

“Here’s a toast”, the old man that gave Xena and Gabrielle a hard time fishing gets up and lifts his mug in a toast. “To Xena and Gabrielle, who came here to our aid and in one single day improved our lives so much”

Joxer coughs. 

“Ah… and to that goof over there”, the man completes. 

“The name’s Joxer, sir”, Joxer lifts his mug. 

“Cheers!”, the old man says and everyone joins him in the toast, saying “cheers” happily and making mugs meet over the table. 

People feast in happiness. They’re really positive about how this is coming out. 

***

Middle of the night. Xena’s walking by the village, towards the prison. 

When she gets there, she finds that little girl, daughter of Atreus, sleeping with a doll very close to his cell. Atreus himself is sleeping soundly. 

She smiles sadly at the scene. There’s also one old man sleeping close by, sitting on a chair, holding a dagger. That’s the “security” they improved since Atreus tried to escape. Xena rolls her eyes. 

She walks close to the little girl and gently shakes her shoulder. 

“Hey”, she says with tenderness. 

The girl opens her eyes, super sleepy, and rubs her eyes, looking at Xena. 

“Xena”, she speaks. “What’s wrong?”

***

“How do you know what happened if you weren’t there?”, a little boy asks Gabrielle - rather interrupts her - as she’s telling the story. 

“Xena told me afterwards”, Gabrielle replies from the stage with a smile. “So…”

“But what about when Ares killed those people at the pigeon temple”, the boy goes on. “How do you know what he said and what he did if neither you or Xena were there?”

The audience is curious. Gabrielle sighs and responds:

“Other people told me”

This answer seems to comfort the boy and the audience. 

“Resuming the story…”, Gabrielle continues. 

***

“Nothing’s wrong”, Xena replies. “I just believe your dad would like you to go back to your bed so you can have a good night of sleep”

“I don’t want to”, the stubborn girl replies. 

“Well, let me tell you something”, Xena sits next to her. “If you don’t sleep in your bed, you’ll have pains all over your body tomorrow, and you won’t be able to fish or cut trees. And if that happens, you’ll slow us down. By slowing us down, you’re delaying our meeting with the mermaids, and therefore delaying the saving of your dad”

The girl looks at Xena, and Xena looks at the girl. The girl sits down. 

“That’s mean”, she says. 

“I’m sorry, it’s the truth”, Xena replies. 

“Kids must not like you”, the girl gets up and begins walking back to her house. 

“That’s not true”, Xena talks after her. “Kids actually  **_love_ ** me”

“Don’t be this mean to your daughter”, the little girl speaks the last, very darkly, and walks away, leaving a disturbed Xena behind. 

“Kids can be creepy”, Xena talks to herself. 

She hears a sound and sees that Atreus is waking up. She approaches the cell. 

“Atreus?”, she asks him, trying to find clarity in his eyes or something. 

“Uh? Where…? Where am I?”, he begins to say.

Xena stiffens, because she fears he’s out of the spell. She’s rigid and worried. 

“You’re in the prison”

“Prison?”, he asks. “Am I not in the sea? I must go to the sea!  **_I MUST FIND MY LOVE!_ ** ”

Xena sighs and closes her eyes in relief. 

“Yeah, yeah”, she says as she gets up and gets ready to leave. 

“Damn you, warrior woman”, the old man that is staying put as a security measure speaks, apparently up. “Do you know how long it’ll take him to calm down now?”

“Give him some kava and he’ll fall asleep like a rock”, Xena says. 

“What is kava?!”, the man asks, but Xena’s gone. 

He sighs and begins talking to Atreus. 

“Yes, the sea, I know, I know the drill”

***

( _ SOME DAYS LATER _ )

They actually built a ship!! And it’s beautiful and large; it is on top of many round wood logs that form a path all the way into the calm sea. 

“Oh, Poseidon, please bless this ship and its trip”, and old woman is walking around the ship, throwing some water at it. “May we rescue the men, may we all come back safe and sound”

Joxer appears and gently pushes her away, out of scene, saying:

“Yeah, alright, alright, thanks, grandma, thanks for the blessing”, then he strikes a pose with his hands on his waist. “Who’s ready to rescue some men?”

All the women celebrate, and six of them step forward - the volunteers. 

“I see we got some brave women here”, he walks in front of them, looking at each one with a flirty look. “Any of you single?”

The women look at each other, and all of them say “No” at the same time, leaving Joxer in disbelief. 

“Hm… Okay…”, he mumbles.

“All right, everyone”, Xena speaks loudly. “Let’s get that ship on the sea”

“Just like we practiced!”, Gabrielle yells.

Some women stay in front of the ship (not on the log path), and hold ropes that are tied to the ship. Some other woman stay behind the ship, their hands touching the bottom of the shop.

Xena goes to the ropes and grabs one; so does Joxer, and Gabrielle goes to the bottom of the ship to push it. 

“ **_NOW!_ ** ”, Xena screams, and the woman begin pulling the ropes, and the other ones begin pushing the bottom with all their strength. 

“This… is too heavy…”, Joxer says as he begins to get red. 

“COME ON, GIRLS, GIVE YOUR ALL TO THIS”, Xena yells again.

Finally the ship begins to move. It begins to slide over the round logs, towards the sea. Xena notices the rope losing its traction and screams: 

“ **_GET OUT OF THE WAY!_ ** ”

All the women get out of the way as the ship slides and goes to the sea, except for Xena, who uses the rope as a climbing device as she performs some acrobacies and lands on the ship. 

She is right beside the foremast as she has one hand on it, looking at the scene in front of her: the beautiful ocean, the sun rising, the small waves. She smiles and laughs with herself because of how beautiful that scene is. 

The women celebrate as they watch the ship go to the sea. 

The ship enters the ocean and floats. They all applaud and cheer. 

Finally, after a few moments floating, the ship begins to sink. 

Xena, on the ship, realizes that, and gets desperate and angry. She runs downstairs to see: there is a whole piece of wood missing from the bottom and there’s water entering the ship through that big hole!!

“ **_Son of a Bacchae_ ** ”, she mumbles. 

From the beach, the women look worried as the ship sinks. Gabrielle sighs, nervous. Joxer goes next to her. 

“It’s  **_sinking?_ ** The ship is  **_sinking?_ ** ”, he asks. 

“Looks like it”, Gabrielle replies as she covers the sun from her eyes. “Something must have been wrong with the bottom…”

“The bottom?”, Joxer asks her. 

“The bottom of the ship, the wood”

“Oh…”, Joxer swallows dryly as he realizes what happened.

A few moments later, Xena comes out of the water, walking completely wet through the beach, heading to Joxer and Gabrielle with her “ _ I’m going to kill you _ ” face. 

“Xena, what was wrong with the ship?”, Gabrielle asks when Xena is close enough. 

Xena only grabs Joxer by the neck with anger. 

“Did you forget anything, Joxer?”, Xena questions him with crazy eyes. “Did you forget anything? Huh? Maybe you forgot to check the bottom of the ship like I asked you?”

Gabrielle rolls her eyes at Joxer. 

Joxer, choking, nods insanely. 

“I… forgot…”, he replies. 

“Well”, Xena lets go of him. “If it isn’t the Joxer of  **_always_ ** ”, she, then, turns to the rest of the women. “We got work to do, ladies”

They all walk away from Joxer, shooting him angry looks as he lowers his head in shame. 

***

( A FEW MORE DAYS LATER )

Finally the ship is floating on the water, in the sea. Everything is good. Xena, Joxer and Gabrielle are on the ship alongside with six more women who are the crew. 

The rest of the people from the village is on the beach, waving and screaming their “good luck”s and goodbyes. 

“If you can’t find them, don’t worry”, one of those two young women of before screams. 

“Yes! Don’t worry at all! We can handle ourselves without them”, the other one says as she holds the hand of the other one and they laugh together. 

“We’ll find them”, Xena says back from the ship with a smile. She turns to Gabrielle as she goes to the rudder to control it. “We have a dangerous trip ahead of us, Gabrielle”

“Don’t we always?”, Gabrielle smiles at her and puts her hand gently on Xena’s belly. “Aren’t you going to be sick, though?”

“Nah, the baby’s strong”, Xena replies. “She or he must know the sea before they’re born”

“Just don’t put yourself under too much risk, okay?”, Gabrielle asks. 

Xena smiles at her. 

“Like you’d let me”

They both giggle. 

“Any new crazy pregnant desire, Xena?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me”

“Try me”

“Fresh, raw octopus”

Gabrielle has a reflux. 

“Like the one I…”

“Like the one you…”, Xena smiles big. 

“I’ll make sure to get one of those for you”, Gabrielle walks away, feeling sick. 

***

“Like the one you  **_what?_ ** ”, a young boy from the crowd asks Gabrielle, who’s telling the story. 

“Well, if you’re aware of my previous adventures, once Xena did something to me that kept me from getting sea sick, but it also affected my sense of taste”, Gabrielle responds. “So I… ate a whole raw octopus believing it was tasty”

All the kids go “ _ Ewwwwwww _ ”, and the audience laughs at them, including Gabrielle. 

“Yes, but you know what, it tasted like chicken”, she continues with a smile. 

***

The sea is silent. There’s a weird mist covering it, no one can see anything a palm away. 

The ship goes slow as Xena conducts it. 

“This fog”, one of the women says. “It means we’re close to the mermaids, doesn’t it?”

“Probably”, Xena replies. “Mermaids are known for sinking whole ships with their distractions. The men don’t see the rocks and crash”

“Be alert”, Gabrielle speaks as she gets her sai from her boots. 

“Gabrielle, I’m gonna need you to do something for me”, Xena tells her. 

“What is it?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Tie Joxer to the main mast” 

“Really?”

“Yes. He’s a man. Mermaids enchant men. Therefore, he has to be tied up”

Gabrielle sighs. 

“He’s not going to like it”

“I don’t care”

“You’re still angry at him for ruining the ship, aren’t you?”

“I’m not. Gabrielle, this is a matter of life or death”

“Alright, alright”, Gabrielle raises her eyebrows at Xena. “I’ll do it”

“Thank you”

***

Joxer is tied to the mast. 

“This is stupid, I don’t need this”, he’s complaining. “I am Joxer, the mighty! I am immune to mermaids spells!”

“How can you know?”, one of the women approaches him.

“Because I am  **_Joxer, the mighty!_ ** ”

“That’s not a good explanation to me”

“Heads up, everyone”, Xena says from up there where she’s guiding the ship. “I think they found us”

Everyone gets tense. Some women have swords, daggers, bow and arrows. They’re looking around in the mist to try to see anything, but they don’t. 

Not until they hear some lovely voices singing. 

Xena locks the rudder with a piece of wood and yells at Gabrielle:

“ **_ANCHOR!_ ** ”

Gabrielle, on the other side, yells the same to two women standing close to the anchor. 

“ANCHOR!”, she screams. 

The two women nod and release the anchor to the bottom of the ocean. After the splash, there’s silence. 

Xena draws her sword and joins Gabrielle, who has her sai ready. 

Joxer has a goofy smile as he swings his head to the song that is being sung. He’s completely under the mermaids’ spell. He’s even singing along.

“Damn… ropes…”, he begins to get angry and tries to release himself from the ropes that are tying him up to the mast. 

“They’re here!”, one of the women screams as she is looking into the water. 

Xena and Gabrielle go to where she’s looking, to the edge of the ship, and they see some beautiful heads over the water; the rest of their bodies is submerged. The mermaids are looking at them. 

“No men there on the boat?”, one of the mermaids asks them. 

Xena looks back at Joxer, who’s drooling as he’s tied to the mast, and then returns to the mermaid:

“Not one”, she replies. 

“Doesn’t have to be just men, Agatha”, one other mermaid says to the first one. She’s redhead. “Look at that one”, she points at Gabrielle with naughty eyes. “I would  **_love_ ** to have her”

Gabrielle opens her eyes wide in surprise.

“We’re looking for the fishermen you took about two months ago”, Xena speaks a little annoyed. 

“Our summer pets”, another mermaid says with a smile. 

“What do you want with them?”, the first mermaid asks. 

“We want them back”, Xena replies. “You took them against their will”

“Against their will?”, the mermaid laughs. “I don’t think so. They all came very willingly”

“Only because you put a  **_spell_ ** on them”, Xena barks. 

Gabrielle holds her arm, silently asking her to let her handle this. So she steps closer to the mermaids in the sea. 

“Listen, I find what you do endearing”, Gabrielle speaks, trying to convince them. “I really do. Your voice is flawless and anyone who hears it has no other choice other than to follow you to the depths of the sea”

“Thank you, finally some recognition”, the mermaids get happy. 

“But there’s something that makes me feel sorry for you”, Gabrielle begins. “I feel…  **_pity_ ** ”

“What? Why?”, the leader asks, intrigued. 

“Well, if you attract men with your voices and they can’t help but fall in love with you…”, Gabrielle goes on. “It means no men ever  **_loved_ ** you” 

“What are you talking about, princess?”, the mermaid that is into Gabrielle asks. “They love us”

“They’re  **_in love_ ** with you, yes. But they don’t  **_love_ ** you. Because love comes naturally. It comes without any strings attached. Love happens when you meet someone and  **_fall in love_ ** without any spells involved”

“What is she talking about?”, the mermaids ask their leader. “Is she telling the truth?”

“Shush”, the leader raises her arm over the water. “I’ve heard poems about what she’s saying. She’s telling the truth”

“Our men don’t love us?!”, another mermaid asks. 

“They don’t”, Gabrielle replies. “And if you release them from the spell, you’ll know.  **_Not one_ ** of them will want to stay with you willingly”

“Is that a bet, blondie?”, the leader of the mermaids asks. “What if  **_some_ ** of them want to stay?”

“Well, if some of them want to stay even after the spell is broken, then they can stay”, she answers. “Because it will be his real wish”

The mermaids’ leader smiles. 

“Then please, beautiful women sailors, follow us to our lair”, she says, and the mermaids begin to swim away. We can see their gorgeous fish tails. 

“Well done”, Xena puts a hand over Gabrielle’s shoulder with a smile. “Lift the anchor! Let’s follow them”, she yells the orders. 

***

The ship reaches a place full of dangerous rocks, so Xena has to be very careful to guide the ship among them and still she has her vision limited by the constant mist. 

The mermaids are in front of them, swimming. 

Finally the mermaids enter a big cave, and Xena yells “ANCHOR” again as she has to stop the ship. 

“Let’s go after them”, Xena tells Gabrielle. “The rest of you stay here”, she says to all the other women. “Make sure no one tries to sink this ship and be ready for a fight”

The women nod as Xena and Gabrielle agree to jump in the sea at the same time. The swim to the cave, following the mermaids. 

Inside the cave. 

It’s a nice, long cave, with rocks and sand. The fishermen are all there, under their spell, hugging and kissing the mermaids that arrived, saying stuff like “I missed you, my queen!”, “please don’t ever leave us again!”, “I prepared your favorite: fried pufferfish!”.

The leader of the mermaids is enjoying some kisses on her cheek when she remembers Xena and Gabrielle’s presence. (The mermaids have legs on land) She, then, screams:

“ **_STOP!_ ** ”, and everyone stops everything they’re doing. “Listen, all of you. This blonde woman says you men don’t really love us”

“That’s a lie!”, one of the men screams back.

“We love you so much!”, another one says. 

“Let me talk”, the leader of the mermaids, Agatha, continues. “I will release you from the spell. The ones that still love us can stay. And the ones that want to… go back to your… old families can go with them”

The redhead mermaid goes to her and whispers:

“I don’t like this idea. What if we lose them all?”

“Do you want to keep living like this, Leny?”, Agatha asks her, roughly. “With men slaves instead of men lovers? I don’t. I want what she said. I want love”

Leny sighs, defeated. She retracts back and crosses her arms. 

Agatha, then, begins to sing. Her voice is incredibly beautiful and it creates an unique eco throughout the cave. Suddenly, all the men are released from the spell. 

Some of them pull apart from their mermaids super duper fast, as if they’re touching fire, with scared looks on their eyes. The mermaids get hurt and sad. 

Some of them ask what’s happening, and how did they get there, and all the drill of someone who just woke up from a spell. 

Some other men keep looking at the mermaids with love in their eyes, caressing their cheeks with a smile. 

“Fishermen”, Xena screams. “Hear me out. We have a ship outside this cave to bring you back home. Those ones who want to go home, just swim away and find our ship. The ones that want to stay… stay”

Most of the men run to the exit of the cave and begin swimming like crazy men. But some stay with their mermaids, and go deeper into the cave, away from anyone’s eyes. 

“I told you some would want to stay”, Agatha says with her heart broken, because her man was the first one to run away. 

Leny approaches Gabrielle. 

“It would have been nice to have you”, she says to Gabrielle. “What is your name?”

“It’s Gabrielle”, she answers. 

“Gabrielle. Can I try something?”

Gabrielle shares a look with Xena. 

“It won’t hurt you, I promise”, Leny says. “I’m just wondering if I change the tone…”

Then she begins singing and changes the tone of her voice to an even softer one. Gabrielle, listening to that, loses all her expression and falls under her spell. Leny is smiling super big as Gabrielle leans in to kiss her. They share a passionate kiss, but then Xena quickly and softly pulls Gabrielle by her shoulder and kisses her herself. 

Gabrielle, then, wakes up from the spell, blinking. 

“True love’s kiss breaks the spell?”, she asks, still a little dizzy. 

“Apparently”, Xena replies, and shoots Leny a mortal look.

“It was just a trial… I loved Gabrielle”, she says. “And I want to give her a gift to always remember me by”

Leny, whose eyes are watering, brings a delicate, thin finger to her eye as one single drop of tear falls on it. It becomes a little crystal, which then becomes a little bracelet with one crystal on it that Gabrielle immediately puts around her wrist. (It’s the bracelet that Gabrielle has worn every day every since, and that she still wears it).

“Thank you”, Gabrielle says. “It’s beautiful”, she smiles. 

“Like you”, Leny says, kisses her cheek, and goes deeper into the cave. 

“Leave”, Agatha says, she’s almost breaking down on tears. “ **_Leave now_ ** ”

“We are leaving”, Xena speaks. “Thank you”

They turn their back and jump back to the water. 

***

They’re sailing back home. Some women of the crew already met their loved ones, or their father/brother. 

Gabrielle is admiring her bracelet. 

“Do you think they’ll keep kidnapping men?”, Gabrielle asks Xena.

“No”, she replies. “You saw the look on Agatha’s face. She wants true love now. They all do”

“Hey”, Joxer screams from the mast where he is still tied. “Can you release me now?”

Gabrielle and Xena look at him with big smiles, wanting to laugh. 

“No, Joxer, it’s still dangerous, we need you there for some more hours”, Xena answers, as Gabrielle giggles. 

The ship sails back home, with the sun setting. All is good, all is right. 

***

Everyone finishes applauding Gabrielle, and then one woman asks:

“Do you still have the bracelet?”

“No, I don’t”, Gabrielle lies as she lightly touches her wrist where that very bracelet is put.

Erastus sees that. He sees she still has the bracelet. 

“I lost it”, Gabrielle lies again. 

***

“That is the bracelet, isn’t it?”, Petra asks when she joins Gabrielle for their usual supper. She’s pointing at Gabrielle’s wrist.

“Yes”, she replies as she eats. 

“Why did you lie to that woman?”

“I didn’t want people to try to steal it from me”

“Makes sense”

***

Erastus, in his bedroom, is writing a small parchment for his daughter. We can see him writing in tiny letters:

**_“She still has the mermaid’s tear, but I think she is clueless to the ritual”_ **

He rolls it and ties it to Remy’s leg, and then he releases him to the darkness of the outside of his window. 

**END OF EPISODE #6**


	7. Episode 07 - The wood wife

**EPISODE #7, “** **THE WOOD WIFE** **”.**

It’s snowy, cold, windy. It’s basically a snow storm over the forest. 

And Xena and Gabrielle are out there. Two dark figures among the trees, trying to cross the path of snow. They have heavy coats, but their faces are almost frozen. 

“Where did this snow storm come from?”, Gabrielle asks, pulling her coat tighter. “When we left Beowulf, it was sunny”

“It was a fake sunny, Gabrielle”, Xena responds. “The North has fake sunnies. You think the weather is nice and is going to remain nice… next thing you know, your toes are freezing off… and you can’t feel your nose”

“My gods, why did you choose such place…”, Gabrielle begins, but then stops. 

Her and Xena share a fun look. 

“We need to find shelter, or we won’t make it back to Greece alive”, Xena speaks. 

“Can’t we build one? It doesn’t seem like anyone lives here in these woods”

“We don’t have the equipment, Gabrielle”

“Maybe we should go back… we are only one day away of a trip to the kingdom”

Suddenly, Xena stops and looks at the sky.

“I don’t think we have to”, she gestures with her head, pointing to what she’s looking at.

Through the wind and the snow it is visible a thin line of smoke the goes up to the sky just ahead. 

Gabrielle looks at it and smiles. 

***

After walking some, they see a little wooden house with a working chaminee. There are lights inside (of candles and torches), so people are definitely there. 

“Thank the gods, I hope they give us shelter”, Gabrielle speaks. 

“If they don’t,  **_they_ ** ’ll be the ones needing shelter”, Xena replies. 

“Xena…”, Gabrielle raises her eyebrow with a fun look. 

“Alright, just knock already”, Xena mumbles. “My butt hurts”

Gabrielle does as told, she knocks on the door. 

After some time of freezing under the snow, a woman opens the door.

“By Odin, you must be freezing!”, she says as she opens more the door. “Please, come in! I’ll give you shelter and a hot soup!”

Gabrielle and Xena share a look. 

“Thank you very much”, Gabrielle tells the woman as she enters the house, being followed by Xena. “My name is Gabrielle, and this is Xena”

The woman closes the door. The inside of the house is cozy and warm. 

“Xena? You have the same name of the Valkyrie that betrayed Odin”, the woman says. 

Xena smiles. 

“An unfortunate coincidence”, she replies. 

“My name is Inger”, the woman says. “And my son’s Kasper”

“It’s nice to meet you”, says Gabrielle.

“Thank you for letting us stay”, Xena speaks. “We only need shelter for tonight”

“Stay as long as you need”, Inger says. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I have a spare bedroom that I think you two can share. The bed is big. It’s through that door”, she points. “Dinner will be served in about half an hour”

And Inger walks to her own bedroom, leaving Xena and Gabrielle alone. 

“She’s extremely nice”, Gabrielle says as she and Xena take off their coats to hang them on the hanger thing. 

“She’s  **_too_ ** nice”, Xena replies. “I smell trouble”

“Xena, why can’t you just accept we have a lovely hostess?”

“Because my gut is telling me otherwise. Now come on, let’s go see that spare room”

They bring their stuff to the bedroom (their backpacks).

There’s one big bed that they’re going to have to share. 

“Which side is your favorite?”, Xena asks Gabrielle with a smirk. 

“You know which one”, Gabrielle smiles back and goes to the left side to drop her stuff to the bed. “It’s so warm and toasty inside… It’s even hard to believe we were freezing a minute ago”

“The North people know how to keep warm during the worst winters”, Xena says as she takes off her boots. 

“Xena, I don’t think I said that yet…”, Gabrielle looks at her with love. “Thank you for saving me”

Xena smiles at her. 

“My pleasure”

A minute passes. 

“Oh, smells good!”, Gabrielle notices. 

“Hmmm”, Xena sniffs the air. “Goat meat… with potatoes”

“Your sense of scent really amazes me”, Gabrielle speaks. 

“Well you didn’t seem to believe me back when I said I smelled trouble”

“I mean for  **_food_ ** ”

Suddenly, they both notice a small head on the door. It’s a child, Inger’s son, Kasper. 

He’s looking at them with curiosity. 

“Hello, there”, Gabrielle says with her sweet tone. “You must be Kasper”

The boy doesn’t say anything. He looks afraid and sad. 

“My name is Gabrielle, and she’s Xena. Your mom offered us shelter from the cold night”

“Will you… save my dad?”, he asks in an ill voice. 

“Having a  _ déjà vu _ from the mermaids time”, Xena murmurs. 

Gabrielle ignores her. 

“What happened to your dad?”, she asks. 

“His soul is with the  **_Skogsrå_ ** ”, he responds. “He’s… not here”

“Hm, okay…”, Gabrielle doesn’t quite understand. “We will talk to your mom about it, alright?”

The boy shakes his head and enters the bedroom. Xena looks at him carefully. He grabs Gabrielle’s hand. 

“Come see”

She looks at Xena and then follows the boy. Xena goes after them. 

Kasper leads them to a bedroom - the house is rather big. They enter the bedroom.

“See?”, Kasper says. 

Xena and Gabrielle see. They see a man, laying in bed, with his eyes open to the ceiling, moving his mouth like a fish out of water. His eyes are glassy and his is the most pale a man can be. 

“Xena, this man is not well”, Gabrielle says. 

“He looks…  **_sick_ ** ”, Xena replies. “It’s probably not safe for us to be here in this room”

“He is not sick”, the boy speaks. “He doesn’t have his soul anymore”

“Sure looks like it”, Xena says again. 

“You don’t believe me”, the boy is getting upset. “Just like everyone else”

Xena pities him. She kneels in front of him.

“Listen, I believe you”, she says with kind eyes. “But first we need to speak with your mom. We will do that during dinner. Sounds alright?”

The boy slowly nods. 

“And if your dad’s soul really is with the… sko… ra… We will get it back from him”, Gabrielle completes. 

“ **_Skogsrå_ ** ”, the boy repeats. “The wood wife”

“ **_The wood wife_ ** ”, Xena says with a familiar tone, as if she’s heard that before. 

**INTRO PLAYS**

“Xena? What is it? Do you know who she is?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“I’ve heard of her”, she replies as she walks to the man and examines him. She has her medicinal abilities. She performs some tests on him. “The spirit of the forests”, she goes on. “In the form of a beautiful woman… who lures men… and imprisons their souls”, she looks at the boy. 

“It was her”, the boy says. 

Xena looks at Gabrielle and then back to the man; she continues to examine him. 

“His vital force is… messed up”, she speaks. “I can  **_feel_ ** something is wrong here”

***

Xena and Gabrielle walk out of that bedroom, where the boy stays with his dad. Gabrielle grabs Xena’s arm and makes her stop walking to listen to her. 

“Xena, will you believe him?”, she asks. “Maybe it was a story his mom made up… for him to understand the condition of his dad”

“This isn’t a made up story, Gabrielle”, Xena responds, serious. “Kids always know more than their parents, who try to disregard the truth with lies”, she puts her hands on her hips and looks around. “During dinner we will learn the mother’s version of it, but I choose to believe the kid’s”

Xena walks back to her room and leaves Gabrielle wondering. 

***

Dinner time. 

Gabrielle, Xena and Kasper are sitting on the table, while Inger is serving their plates with delicious goat meat with potatoes. 

“Goat meat with potatoes”, Inger says with a smile as she finishes serving them all. 

Gabrielle and Xena share a look. 

“Thank you very much”, Xena speaks as she grabs a fork and begins eating. 

“This smells so good”, Gabrielle says and eats too. 

“It’s Kasper’s favorite”, Inger says with a kind smile. 

She begins eating herself. 

“I’m sorry to intrude, if that is what I’m doing, but what were the two of you doing out there in the cold?”, she asks. 

Gabrielle and Xena share a look. 

“It’s a long story…”, Gabrielle answers. 

“We were visiting a friend”, Xena responds. “We’re from Greece, actually”

“Oh, Greece”, Inger exclaims, surprised. “You must be new to this kind of winter!”

“Definitely”, Gabrielle speaks. “What about you, have you ever travelled outside those north lands?”

“Yes, quite some times, actually”, Inger says. “Before I had Kasper. His father and I used to go many places together”

“And where is his father now?”, Xena asks, knowing the answer.

Inger sighs. She looks at her son with sorrow. 

“He’s…  **_ill_ ** ”, she responds. “He got ill since he came back from hunting the beginning of the winter…”

“That doesn’t answer my question”, Xena responds with a knowing look as she chews. 

Inger takes another deep breath. 

“He’s in his room”m she finally says. “He’s been in that…  **_condition_ ** … for many days now. There’s nothing I can do but to make him comfortable”

“There is a village close by”, Gabrielle speaks. “You can try to bring him to the healers there”

“You don’t think I tried that?”, Inger seems upset. “I tried everything you can imagine. I even contacted a witch who came here and said his soul is forever lost. I don’t know what he has, and no one does either.  _ All I can do is to make things comfortable for him _ ”

Xena leans forward. 

“Your son told us his father’s soul is with the wood wife”, she says. 

Inger scoffs and looks at her son with disbelief and a little bit of mockery.

“You know how kids make up all kinds of things when tragedies happen”

“Would you tell us a bit more about the day when he got home from hunting?”, Xena eats another spoon of food. 

“Well… It wasn’t as cold as it is today, or as snowy. Although the wind was equally strong. I heard some knocks on the door as I was washing clothes and I opened the door… there he was, my handsome Asrod, with… with… **_erased eyes_ ** and no skin color. First I wondered why he would knock on his own house, but then I noticed something was really wrong with him. He was sick. I laid him in bed and there he stayed… never got up again”

“Soulless”, Kasper says quietly as he eats. 

“No one knows what happened, except for my husband”, Inger goes on. “And I’ve accepted that he might never come back to us again”

“No!”, Kasper yells. “He will!! He just needs his soul back!”

“For the love of Odin, Kasper, are we really going to have this discussion again?!”, Inger gets angry at him. The boy stays quiet, but his eyes are furious. 

“Why are you obstinate to disregard your son’s opinion on this?”, Xena asks with a threatening look. 

“You can’t possibly believe the  **_skogsrå_ ** has his soul!”

“And why not? Just some time ago my friend and I rescued men from mermaids”, Xena goes on. “We helped Beowulf defeat Grendel, the monster that ravaged your lands. And guess what? **_I am that same Xena_ ** , the Valkyrie that betrayed Odin”

Inger was speechless and in disbelief. 

“You… that can’t be… true…”, she says. 

“But it is”, Xena goes on. “And honestly you’ve been living like a hermit for too long not to know what this world is really about. Creatures and gods. Good and evil. Those who take and those from whom things are taken. Like your husband”

“Xena…”, Gabrielle kind of warns Xena to slow down and calm down because she’s being a little too aggressive with that helpless mother/wife. 

Inger doesn’t know what to say. She looks at her son, who has an expectant look to her. 

“This is too hard for me to believe”, she ends up saying and closes her eyes. 

“You never believe anything that is not logical, mom”, Kasper says. “But what is more logical that dad having his soul taken from him and coming home like that? It’s… the only explanation”

Mom and son share a look. 

“Regardless of that being the truth or not…”, Inger goes on. “Given that his soul is supposedly lost, nothing changes. He’s still like that. He’ll never get better”

“But he will”, Xena says with a hopeful eyebrow lifted. “If we get his soul back”

Inger lightens up a little bit, and Kasper smiles. 

“You think you can do that?”, she asks. 

“There’s only one way to find out”, Xena responds. 

“I can’t… go with you…”

“We weren’t expecting you to”, Gabrielle gently holds her hand. “We work better alone”

“Well… I hope… I hope you succeed”, Inger doesn’t seem to believe much what they’re going to do but still she doesn’t want to stop them. It is, after all, a sparkle of hope. 

“Could you tell us more about this  **_skogsrå_ ** woman?”, Gabrielle asks her. 

“She’s a spirit of the woods”, Inger says. “Or so they say. She’s said to be beautiful and walk around naked in the forest, luring men… to do her  **_favors_ ** ”, she eyes her son, not wanting to say -sexual- favors. “And if they do so, she takes their souls from them”

“Sure sounds like the case”, Gabrielle nods and looks at Xena as she eats one potato. 

“She has a back made of wood, like an old and hollow tree trunk”, Inger goes on, more encouraged. “Long hair and maybe a tail”

“You seem to know a lot about norse folklore”, Xena says. 

“I have some books, you know, I’m not illiterate”, Inger responds. 

“And that book is my favorite one”, Kasper speaks with a smile. “It’s there”, he points at a bookshelf behind Xena. “The red leather one”

Xena looks behind her, sees the book and looks back at the kid. 

“I bet it contains wonders”, she winks at him.

***

After dinner. Gabrielle and Xena are in their room, taking off their clothes/armor and putting on some comfortable PJs that they take from Gabrielle’s backpack. There are some candles around the room, and they exhale good scent. 

“What’s the plan?”, Gabrielle asks as she puts on her PJs shit. 

“We go to the woods”, Xena takes off her boots. “Find the wood wife and ask for his soul back. If she refuses, we fight her”

“Yes, well, that’s a given”, Gabrielle giggles. “But I mean how will we  **_find_ ** her?”

“She must be around”, Xena speaks, not worried at all. “Those woods are not filled with men; my bet is she remains close to the houses”

“But why would she be close to  **_this house_ ** ? She already got what she wanted from here”

“Maybe”, Xena looks at Gabrielle with a dark look. “She’s waiting for Kasper to become a man”

Gabrielle understands and is a little surprised. 

“Those woods are dark, they’re evil. Rare people live inside it. Spirits are immortal… time means nothing to them. She’d wait for as long as necessary”

“I see”, Gabrielle says. “Sounds like we’ll have a long day tomorrow”

“Have we ever had a short day?”, Xena asks as she lays in bed under the covers.

“I don’t think so”, Gabrielle responds with a chuckle as she joins Xena, but on her side of the bed. “But I’m happy our days are always so long”

“You are? How come?”

“It kind of gives me the feeling we are always seizing”

Xena smiles at her. 

“Long nights, on the other hand…”, she says with a suggestive tone. 

“They’re the best”, Gabrielle smiles at her and blows off the candle next to her. 

***

The next day. 

Xena and Gabrielle are walking in the woods. 

It is cold, but not as cold as the day before, and not nearly as windy. Snow is seen everywhere, as long as the eyes can reach. Still, they’re both covering their faces with scarves. 

“If we can’t find her today, we will come back tomorrow”, Xena says in a loud tone for Gabrielle to hear her. 

“Really?”, Gabrielle asks, surprised and a little disappointed. “Xena, we don’t even know if we will find her. For all we know she might be gone out to somewhere else. We can look for her for **_years_ ** and never find her”

“No… we are closer to find her than it seems”, Xena says mysteriously, and points towards. “See how the woods are darker there? I don’t know much about the scandinavian myths… But in Greece that’s usually a sign for trouble”

“And we are heading right towards it”, Gabrielle finishes with a nod. 

“Be aware. Remember what Inger told us. The Skogsrå has a hollow wooden back…”

And they go on looking for her. 

***

Some time later…

They’re right into those darker woods, looking around. It’s so dark they have torches. The sun is setting. 

“Xena, we should come back to Inger”, Gabrielle tells her. “It’s getting dark”

“Gabrielle, she is here, I can **_smell_ ** her”, Xena says with distaste. 

“Where?”

Xena points.

“ **_There_ ** ”

In the middle of the dark, the snow (that is falling again), and the dark branches, they see something moving. It is an old piece of wood… or a vertical trunk. They can’t really tell, but it is scary and coming straight from a horror movie. 

Gabrielle’s eyes widen. Xena’s narrow. 

“Wood wife!”, Xena calls for her. 

The trunk stops moving, because she hears her. 

“Who dares to find me instead of being found by me?”, a voice answers; it is a melodic voice of a woman. 

“Xena”, Xena responds. “I want to speak with you”

“Xena?”, the Skogsrå says. She is approaching like she’s levitating, but her face is still not seen, for she has her wooden back to the two woman. “Thirty years ago that Valkyrie was everything everyone ever talked about. I don’t believe you two to be the same person, for she is an old woman by now”

“Long story, but we  **_are_ ** the same person”, Xena replies. 

“Then for the first time I’ll allow someone to initiate contact with me”, the Skogsrå is right in front of Xena and Gabrielle, who’re nervous. 

The Skogsrå turns around… and a beautiful blonde woman is revealed. She has a crown of dead flowers on her head and a long, cow tail. She has a thin layer of fabric over her body, so she’s not naked-NAKED. 

“I appreciate that”, Xena speaks after what it seemed like forever. 

Gabrielle has her eyes glued to the Skogsrå, as if she is almost falling under her beauty spell. 

“What is it that you want?”, the Skogsrå asks. 

“We want you to give back the soul of a man called Asrod”, Xena goes on. “You took it from him. It isn’t yours to keep”

The creature barks a laughter. 

“Do you not know what I am?”, she questions. “I am a creature of the woods. This is what I do”

“I know. But it doesn’t mean it is right. And doesn’t mean you can’t give it back to him”

“I have hundreds of other souls. Why do you care about this one in particular?”

“Because this one we can save”

The Skogsrå looks at Xena carefully, and then at Gabrielle. 

“And her?”, she asks, looking at Gabrielle. “Who is she?”

“She’s with  **_me_ ** ”, Xena says in a possessive tone, in order for the Skogsrå not to even think of wanting Gabrielle. 

“One soul for one soul”, the Skogsrå says. “I’ll take hers”

Gabrielle steps back, and Xena goes in front of her.

“No”, she speaks, getting angry. “One soul for no soul. Either you give it to us or we will take it from you”

The Skogsrå smiles, and her smile is yellow and rotten. 

“Obstinate woman”, she speaks. “And Valkyrie not least. You might get me what I want”

“I am  **_not_ ** getting you any soul in return”, Xena says angrily. 

“Oh, I am not as obstinate as you”, the Skogsrå continues. “I will accept something else instead of a soul. And if you get it for me, I’ll return to you the man’s soul”

“What do you want?”

“A bit of horsehair… from  **_The Bäckahäst_ ** ”

Gabrielle gets confused. 

“From who now?”, she asks. 

“A magical horse… whose hair I’ve been craving. But wood creatures don’t get along. I can’t get near him. Now you… you’d get near him easily, Valkyrie”

“Where do I find him?”, Xena asks. 

“Oh, you’ll find him close to villages, but in the woods… in the dark of the woods… Waiting for preys to approach”

“So, if I bring you this horsehair, you’ll give us the soul of Asrod?”

“Yes”

“Do you promise on your inner self?”, Xena asks. 

The Skogsrå makes an angry face. Sounds like Xena just hit a weak spot. 

“I promise on my inner self”, she says. 

“Wait a minute”, Gabrielle intervenes. “How will we know if this… Bäckahäst is a magical horse or just a regular horse?”

The Skogsrå smiles fouly. 

“Oh…  **_you’ll know_ ** ”, she glances at Xena. “You know where to find me when you have the horsehair”

She turns around and goes back to the woods, with her hollow, awful back… and just disappears when she is far enough. 

Xena turns to Gabrielle. 

“Let’s go back to Inger”, she says. “We need Kasper’s wisdom about this Bäckahäst”

Gabrielle nods and they go back to the house. 

***

Kasper places a big book on the table, it is opened by the page where a big, white horse is drawn, and there are some writings there in ancient swedish. Xena, Gabrielle and Inger are sitting by the table. 

“The brook horse”, he says. “He is known for luring people to mount on him… and then he rides to the closest river and drown the rider, who can’t get off him, no matter what they do”

“This… is a creepy folklore you guys have”, Gabrielle states, and Kasper giggles. 

“I… I can’t believe you two met the Skogsrå and… and she has my husband’s soul”, Inger says in disbelief and shock. 

“I told you, mom”, Kasper says. “But you… never believe me”

“Of course I believe you”, Inger places a hand on top of his. “I always believe you, son. And I always  **_will_ ** believe you. It just didn’t seem possible at the time”

“You were grieving”, Gabrielle says. “It’s okay to hold on to the certainty that there’s nothing else to be done”

“You seem to know grief well”, Inger says.

Xena and Gabrielle share a familiar look. 

“I do”, Gabrielle replies. “If you find out that there’s something that can be done to reverse the situation, you hesitate to believe it… Because it’s easier to get familiar to the pain than to have your hopes crushed to little pieces. It would be a double suffering”

There’s a silence as everyone absorbs what she just said. 

“So, how do we fight this brook horse?”, Xena breaks the silence, asking Kasper. “‘Cause I don’t think he’ll willingly hand us his hair”

Kasper giggles a little bit, and then he finds it in his book, as he points to the page. 

“Steel. It is said that as long as the horse has still on him, he’ll behave”, he answers. 

Xena stops to look at Gabrielle with a rather impressed face.

“Doesn’t seem so hard”, she says. “All we gotta do is to have some steel with us”

“If it was easy, the wood wife would have gotten it herself”, Gabrielle states with a knowing look. 

“How hard can it be?! I literally have steel **_on me_ ** ”

“I’m just saying you tend to underestimate the difficulty level of the things we have to do”

Inger and Kasper share a look, as if they’re out of this private conversation between the two women. 

“Oh yeah?”, Xena makes a daring face and leans forward to face Gabrielle. “When did this ever happen?”

“Literally all the time, Xena”, Gabrielle responds with her arms crossed. 

“Ha- you can’t even tell-”, Xena is about to say, when Inger clears her throat. 

“Sorry”, Xena and Gabrielle say together in a low tone. 

“Let’s get you some steel gear, then”, Inger gets up. “My husband has many hunting devices that you two can use”

***

The sun rises again. 

On that day, there is no snow storm, and it is sunny, despite the white cover of the snow. 

Gabrielle and Xena are walking in the middle of the dark part of the forest, they have backpacks. They walk, and walk and walk. 

Finally, after some time, Xena hears something, and gestures for Gabrielle to be quiet and still. 

They squat in silence to observe. 

“I heard it too”, Gabrielle whispers. “Sounded like…  **_children_ ** ”

“Children in the middle of the forest… it can never be good”, Xena replies. 

The children’s noises get closer. It’s their voices, talking and laughing. Finally, the image appears in front of them.

It is the brook horse, and he has on his back four little kids that are holding to his hair and to his saddle. They’re happy, laughing and singing some song in swedish (nordic old language). The horse is green-black and has red eyes. 

The horse neighs loudly and rears, and begins a crazy run inside the forest. 

“Xena!”, Gabrielle says with urgency. “ **_He’s going to drown them!!!_ ** ”

“HURRY, LET’S GO!”, Xena says.

Xena and Gabrielle start running after the horse in full speed, but the horse is  _ too fast _ . 

Gabrielle suddenly stops and throws one of her sai in the direction of the legs of the horse. They reach the bare paw (?) of the horse and ricochets to the side. No damage done to the horse, which keeps running, but now he is aware of Xena and Gabrielle’s presence. He sees them. 

Xena grabs her chakram and throws it at the horse with a groan. She stops and looks in despair the path of her weapon.

The chakram flies, cutting air to the horse and he again manages to repel it with his foot, even though he (of course) is not wearing a horseshoe. 

One of the children looks behind and sees Xena and Gabrielle. He furrows his brow in confusion. 

“What… what is happening?”, he says. 

Xena gets her chakram back (that flies back furiously, almost hurting her), and makes an angry face. 

“They’re getting to the lake!”, Gabrielle yells as she and Xena run after the horse and she sees a big, dark, misty lake ahead. 

“ **_Son of a bacchae_ ** ”, Xena exclaims and sees herself in a position that she has to do something real quick, and  _ now _ . 

So, as she runs, she jumps up and forward, ululating as she sets feet in the branch of a large tree; the branch bends with her weight, and then it throws her up, high and forth, like a catapult, and she goes spinning and giving her war cry (ululating).

Gabrielle looks up and sees her.

Xena ends up falling on the neck of the horse, mounted. She’s now riding him, along with the kids. 

Still in her frenesy, she turns around and, with a strength exclamation, pushes all the kids behind at once abruptly, so all of them fall from the horse to the ground. 

Gabrielle gets to the kids and bends over to see if they’re fine.

“Are you alright? Is everyone unharmed? Anyone hurt?”, she asks worried. 

“I’m fine”, the kids reply one by one, with different answers, that they’re not hurt. 

“What happened?”, one of them asks. 

It’s like they were inebriated by the horse’s spell or something. 

“You were about to be drowned by the Bäckahäst… but now you’re safe”, Gabrielle answers.

And then she looks forward to see as Xena keeps riding the horse to the lake. 

Xena, on the other hand, has a dagger on her hand and is about to cut some of the horsehair from the Bäckahäst. 

“Stay still, little buddy… I just need some of your hair…”, she says. 

Suddenly, before she cuts his hair, the horse starts going crazy. He is jumping and shaking and Xena can’t keep her balance. She even injuries herself - her own hand with her dagger (that falls from her hands, to the ground as she horse runs fast and insanely). 

“Darned horse!”, Xena exclaims, and then she notices that the horse is entering the lake already, breaking the thin layer of ice that covers it. 

He is already halfly submerged. So she gathers strength and jumps backwards from the horse’s saddle and lands on the ground, close to the lake, as she watches the horse stopping to look at her with rage, and sink down the waters of lake, disappearing. 

Xena herself has a rageful look on her face. 

Gabrielle finally gets to her. 

“What happened? Did you get the hair?”, she asks. And then she grabs Xena’s hand. “You’re bleeding”

“I did not get the hair”, Xena responds, panting, and looks at Gabrielle. “This horse is worse than I thought. Our iron couldn’t harm it. Next time we might need to use Inger’s husband’s chain rope”

“Yes, but first, we need to get those kids back to their families, and take care of your hand”, Gabrielle says. 

***

“Where are you from? You speak funny”, one little girl asks Gabrielle as they walk in the middle of the dark forest, all together in a slow pace, going to the village (the kids are leading the way).

“We are from Greece”, Gabrielle responds with a kind smile. “Now what were you all doing far away from home?”

“We were just playing”, the oldest boy replies. “Dad lets us play in the forest… but not too deep. But then we heard a horse and thought it needed help”

“And  **_we had to_ ** go deeper in the forest to help the horse!”, a little girl says, making Xena smile. “We didn’t know if it was trapped to a tree and left to die, or if it had a broken leg, or if it was hungry…”

“When we saw the horse, we just… wanted to… ride him for some reason”, the oldest boy continues. 

“That was a trick of the Bäckahäst”, Xena says. “It lured you. But it’s dangerous. You all could have been killed today”

The kids get scared and regretful. 

“Now you learned your lesson”, Xena continues. 

She receives a bad look from Gabrielle, who shakes her head. 

Xena ties the wrap of fabric tighter around her hand. 

“How’s the injury?”, Gabrielle asks her.

“It’s bad”, Xena replies. “I’ll need stitches when we get there”

“Luckily for you I am a very good seamstress”, the blonde smiles. 

“Yeah”, Xena scoffs a fun giggle. “I’ll be lucky to keep my hand”

Gabrielle punches Xena’s shoulder.

***

When they all get to the village, the houses are empty and there’s no one to be seen. Xena and Gabrielle think this is weird, but the kids keep screaming “MOM, DAD?!” around and deeper into the village. Finally they start to hear some people, and see some torches with fire. 

When they approach, they see that it is happening a village people gathering in a public square (àgora), in which everyone is there listening to some men talk. They have big forks, torches, shovels etc. 

“And once we find the creature that took our children, we will burn it to the ground!”, the man says and everyone agrees in a fury reunion. 

“There’s no need for that”, Xena speaks from behind and everyone turns to look at her. 

“Mom! Dad!”, the kids run to their parents.

“BY ODIN!”, they all receive their sons and daughters and hug them tight, even crying with relief and happiness. 

One of the men that were speaking publicly make his way in the middle of the crowd to get to Xena and Gabrielle. 

“You brought our children back?”, he asks them. “Who are you?”

“I am Xena -  _ not the Valkyrie _ \- and this is Gabrielle. We found them… riding  **_the Bäckahäst_ ** ”

A wave of exclamations and whispers takes over the people there. 

“And you saved them?”, another man asks. 

“Yes”, Xena replies. “Got injured in the way”

“She is telling the truth, papa”, the oldest boy says. “She jumped on the horse and pushed us before it got in the lake. If it weren’t for them, we would all… have  **_drowned_ ** ”

The man hesitates some, but then offers his hand to Xena. 

“Then we all owe you more than words can say”, he speaks as Xena shakes his hand with her good one. “Please, follow me, I’ll take you to the healer’s cabin for her to take care of your hand”

“Much appreciated”, Xena replies as the man shakes too Gabrielle’s hand with a grateful look.

***

Xena and Gabrielle are inside the healer’s cabin. It is a small little wooden house that has a fire burning and many rustic, nordic things. She has runes and all the drill. Kind of like a nordic version of a shamaness amazon. 

The woman is stitching Xena’s hand. 

“So you two fought the Bäckahäst and lived instead of drowning”, the woman says. 

Xena and Gabrielle share a look. 

“Actually, Xena fought him”, Gabrielle replies. 

“We have a long history surviving from creatures”, Xena speaks. 

“You’re both very brave”

“But there’s something wrong”, Gabrielle says as she watches the woman stitching Xena’s hand. “The horse repelled our every attach with steel”

“Did you lace him?”, the woman asks. 

Xena and Gabrielle share another look.

“It was the only thing we didn’t do”, Xena answers. 

“There you go. You have to put the steel chain rope around his neck. When it’s there, he will behave. And you can get what you want from him”

Xena quickly looks at the woman.

“How do you know we want something from him?”, she inquiries. 

The woman just shrugs. 

“It’s just a feeling I have. There, your injury is closed. I’ll spread this unguent over it and wrap your hand, that way it will have a moisty environment to heal. Which means no scar”

“Thank you very much”, Xena says. “You’re a good healer”

“No, dear. I am  **_the best_ ** healer”

“Where did you learn it?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Oh, you know how those things work; my mom was a healer before me, and before her her mom… Since I was a little girl I’ve been attending to my mom’s sessions of healing and I learned by watching her. She never taught me through words… Only with actions”

“She sounds like an incredible woman”, Gabrielle replies, and looks at Xena with a smile. 

“She was”, the woman puts an ointment on Xena’s injury and then wraps her hand with a clean, sticky piece of fabric. “Now you, young lady, be careful with this hand of yours”

“Yes, ma’am”

“And you”, she looks at Gabrielle. “Don’t let her push herself”

Gabrielle smiles. 

“I won’t”

***

It’s morning time again. 

Xena and Gabrielle are by the lake in which the brook horse dove the day before. There’s mist over it, and everything is very quiet and still. Xena has the lace/chain rope tied to her waist like she used to have her whip. 

Xena brings her fingers to her mouth and whistles loudly, like she did with Argo. 

Nothing.

The horse doesn’t appear.

“Maybe he went somewhere else?”, Gabrielle offers with a raised eyebrow. 

“Perhaps”, Xena replies with narrowed eyes. “Perhaps not”

“Smells bad in here”, Gab covers her nose. 

“It’s the  **_rot_ ** ”, Xena almost spits those words as if they have a bad taste. “The horse is here alright”

“How do we allure him outside the water?”

By this time they’re almost whispering, because the silence is intense. 

“I don’t know, but we should try anything. **_HEY, BÄCKAHÄST!!!_ ** ”

Gabrielle gets startled at how Xena screams and grabs her sai from her boots, being ready for whatever comes.

“It’s me, Xena, who left you without your meal yesterday! Feels bad to go to sleep with an empty stomach, doesn’t it? And guess what? I am only here to let you know that I will be here every day… every day stopping you from grabbing children and people and drowning them. You just made an enemy out of me”

“Every day?”, Gabrielle whispers to Xena. 

“He has to believe I am an inconvenient to him”, she replies. “That way he’ll fight me”

After some moments of silence, the dark water of the lake, that was still as a glass of water, begins to move from the depths. Xena and Gabrielle look at it. Finally, the head of an angry horse emerges, and his red eyes are locked at Xena. 

She smiles and grabs the lace of steel from her waist.

“That’s right”, she says. “Know the face of your enemy”

Slowly, Xena hands Gabrielle a dagger, who grabs it with one hand as she slips one of her sai back to her boot. 

“I will let you **_starve_ ** ”, Xena yells at the horse. 

The horse starts walking towards Xena, leaving the lake behind. He makes some angry noises and his breathing is very loud. 

He is facing Xena and Gabrielle now. 

After some moments of staring, the horse begins an angry run to Xena. When he is close enough, she dodges him and tries to lace his neck with the rope, but she misses it. 

The horse makes a crazy and fast manoeuvre, turns around and his Gabrielle with his face; but she doesn’t fall down, because she is holding the neck’s horse, so she’s going with him; she’s stuck to him. 

“Xena!”, she screams as the horse runs back to the lake. She tries to let her hand free, but she can’t, because it is stuck to something hard, the saddle. She even tries to use her dagger, but nothing works. “I’m stuck!”

Xena is too far away to do anything, so she gathers the whole chain rope in her hand and throws it to Gabrielle, a little worried. 

“Gabrielle,  **_catch!!!_ ** ”

Just before the horse jumps back into the water, Gabrielle grabs the rope, and they both sink. 

Xena runs with her full speed towards the lake, screaming: “ **_GABRIELLE!_ ** ” on the top of her lungs. 

She enters the lake and starts swimming, but she can’t find Gabrielle or the horse anywhere, and it is  **_FREEZING_ ** . 

“GABRIELLE!”, Xena calls her again; she’s desperate.

After some moments of diving and trying to find her, finally a bump emerges from the water. 

It is a hand… Gabrielle’s hand holding a bunch of horsehair. Finally her head emerges too, and she breathes deeply, sucking air to her lungs. 

“Anyone ordered some horsehair?”, she says and smiles weakly as she shakes with the cold. 

“By the gods, Gabrielle”, Xena swims to her and holds her how she can. “What happened?”

Xena drags Gabrielle to the edge of the lake.

“I put the lace on his neck”, Gabrielle says. “And my hand was freed. Then I cut some of his hair… he wasn’t moving”

When they’re away from the lake, the thin layer of ice goes back to covering it again, forming itself in front of their eyes, like magic. They stare and Gabrielle speaks:

“I think… he  **_drowned_ ** ”

“Come on, let’s get you some warm and dry clothes”, Xena says, but Gabrielle stops her, shaking with the cold. 

“Xena,  **_he drowned_ ** ”

Xena looks at her. 

“I guess karma really is a bitch”, she simply says. 

Gabrielle smiles and they walk away. 

***

Xena and Gabrielle are meeting with the Skogsrå. She is staring at them intensely as she sits by a fallen, rotten tree trunk. 

“We have what you asked for”, Xena says. 

The wood wife offers her hand with her palm up.

“Give it to me”, she says. 

“First you give us the soul of Asrod”, Gabrielle interrupts. 

The woman looks at Gabrielle and tilts her head. 

“Don’t you know I am a wood creature?”, she asks Gabrielle. “Don’t you know I cannot break my promises? I promised you his soul and I  **_will_ ** give it to you if you have the Bäckahäst hair. I am compelled to do so by my own nature. I don’t have a choice. Now you two, you two don’t have the slightest obligation to hand the horsehair to me. You see, I am forced to deliver it to you, because I promised it. You two… Are not”

Xena and Gabrielle share a look and Xena nods at Gabrielle. 

Gabrielle, then, sighs and takes one step forward to deposit on the wood wife’s hand the bunch of frozen horsehair. 

The Skogsrå takes the hair and admires it with a rotten smile. She smells it, she rubs it against her own face in delight. 

“You do keep your word”, she speaks at them with a smile. “Now you have what you want”

The Skogsrå brings her hand to her chest and takes out a piece of it - a piece of her own flesh - which turns into a little shiny ball. It shines white. Xena grabs it with curiosity and care.

“Place it on his chest and he’ll come back”, the wood wife says, turns around, and walks away. 

***

Xena, Gabrielle, Kasper and Inger are gathered around Asrod’s bed. 

They’re all apprehensive as Xena gently lays the little white ball - that is his soul - on his chest. Suddenly, the ball sinks inside him, inside his chest. Asrod takes a deep breath and opens his eyes. 

Inger begins crying, and Kasper is giggling happily. 

“Dad!”, he says. 

Asrod looks at all of them and smiles. 

“Kasper… Inger… I… I am so sorry”, he is talking directly to Inger as he puts his hand on her cheek carefully. 

She takes his hand and kisses it. 

“There is nothing to be sorry for”, she replies. 

Asrod gets tears in his eyes and looks at Gabrielle and Xena. 

“Who are you?”, he asks. 

“They’re Xena and Gabrielle, and they saved you”, Kasper answers. “They got your soul back from the Skogsrå”

Asrod is in lack of words. He cleans his tears with his hands. 

“Thank you… thank you so much…”, he replies. “To think that one fool’s mistake could have taken away my beautiful life with my loved wife and son forever… I really don’t deserve it…”

Xena lays a hand on his arm gently. 

“You’re back, and you’re safe. Now you know what you cherish”, she says. 

Kasper runs away from the bedroom, and Inger calls for him. 

“I’ll go after him”, Gabrielle says. 

Kasper meets Gabrielle halfway. He has his big book in his hands and offers it to Gabrielle. 

“I want to give this to you”, he says with a big smile. “As a thank you”

“Oh, Kasper, this is a lovely gesture”, she replies and smiles back. “But I can’t accept it. It is such a beautiful, and useful, book. You should have it yourself. It can help you next time you face another creature”

“But… I want to thank you…”, he speaks. 

She squats to be his size and looks inside his eyes. 

“You just did. And you know what, Xena and I travel a lot. It would be difficult to carry this big book in my backpack everywhere I go”

“Well”, Kasper then opens his book randomly and rips off a page, which makes Gabrielle exclaim in shock. Then he hands her this one page. “One page won’t change the weight of your backpack”

Gabrielle has no other choice but to take the page, accept it, recognize it. She looks at it and sees stuff written in a language she doesn’t know. It has an image of a beautiful woman that has half of her face and body of a corpse. 

“Thank you very much, Kasper”, Gabrielle says as she folds the page and puts it inside her skirt/belt. 

He gives her an unexpected hug, and she responds to it with a smile and hugging him back. 

***

Xena and Gabrielle are outside the house; they have their backpacks and everything and are ready to go - they have a horse too. Kasper, Inger and Asrod are there, united like a family, smiling at them by the door. 

“Thank you for the shelter, food and the horse”, Xena says. “Are you sure you won’t need it?”

“I can easily get another one on the village”, Asrod replies. “This one hasn’t walked in a while, it must not be so strong, though”

“That’s not a problem”, Gabrielle speaks. “As long as we can take a break from walking ourselves”

“Thank you for everything you did, Xena and Gabrielle”, Inger says with a grateful smile as she leans to her husband. 

“Maybe we will meet again”, Xena speaks. 

They wave their goodbyes and begin walking inside the woods.

Xena has the horse’s reins in his hand as she pulls him gently, he accompanies. Gabrielle does too. She grabs the piece of paper that Kasper gave her and looks at it again. 

“What do you got there?”, Xena asks, peeking. 

“Kasper wanted to give me his book as a thank you gift, but I wouldn’t want him to give up such wonderful book. So he ripped off a page of it and gave it to me. Look”

Xena looks more and smiles. 

“He’s a lovely kid”

“He is. But, Xena, do you know what is written here?”

“Yeah, it’s an invoking spell for Hel, the underworld goddess of the Norse. It says that with the right gifts presented to her she can bring back people from the dead”

Gabrielle nods. 

“Sounds interesting”

“Let’s hope we never have to use that”, Xena speaks and they both share a smile. 

***

Suddenly, Gabrielle stops telling the story. She is in the tavern, sitting on her usual spot, surrounded by a lot of people who are watching her, listening to her. But she stops, and she is still, she is looking at a random spot, but isn’t really seeing it. It’s like she is realizing something. 

Erastus is watching her closely, with knowing and dark looks as he smokes his pipe. His bird Remy is on his shoulder and he shrieks loudly. 

Erastus smiles. 

Finally, some people begin clapping, and then the whole tavern follows up, joining their hands and applauding fervently. They all assume the story is over. 

The sound of the wave of claps is enough to bring Gabrielle out of her senseless state, and she looks at all of them with a weak smile.

“Thank you”, she says, but then she rushes to get up and leave the tavern. 

The barman, Bastian, and his wife Milah look at each other, wondering if she won’t have her dinner this night. Apparently not. 

***

It’s night time and Gabrielle leaves the tavern. The “streets” are empty and the whole village is quiet. Only the wind is heard. 

As she walks quickly, someone calls after her. 

“Gabrielle?”, it’s Petra, who rushes to reach Gabrielle. “Is everything alright?”

Finally she keeps up, because the bard doesn’t stop walking. 

“Yes, it is, I just, I remembered something”, Gabrielle replies. 

“What did you remember?”, Petra asks. 

“It’s… it’s personal, Petra”, Gabrielle tires to dismiss her. “I’m sorry, I have to go”

As Gabrielle begins running, Petra is left behind. She is a little sad and disappointed as she stops and watches Gabrielle’s silhouette disappear. 

A hand is placed on Petra’s shoulder. She looks to the side and sees Erastus. 

“I’m sorry about your feelings, child”, he says to her. 

Petra shrugs. 

“I don’t think she is over Xena yet”, she replies. “And that’s fine. She only needs friends now. I’ll be her friend… and that’s good enough for me”

“You are a very good person, Petra”, Erastus goes on. “It makes me glad that a woman such as Gabrielle can count on people like you. She’ll need…  **_people_ ** … in the next days”

Petra looks at him a little confused. 

“What do you mean?”, she asks. 

He sighs and caresses Remy, the bird. 

“I am only saying that if you mean it, that you’re her friend, you will not abandon her”

“I  **_do_ ** mean it”, Petra imposes. 

“Good”

Remy flies from Erastus’ shoulder to Petra’s, and she smiles, fondling his wings. 

“Such a beautiful bird”, she says. “Will we ever meet your daughter?”

“I think we’ll all meet her sooner than we believe. But before that, I must send her a message. Come on, Remy, we have to go”

The bird obeys and goes back to his owner.

“I will see you tomorrow, Petra”, he says as he turns his back to her with a kind smile. 

“Goodnight, mr. Erastus”, she smiles weakly back at him.

***

Gabrielle enters her bedroom and closes the door shut with a loud noise. She doesn’t care. She goes straight to her backpack and throw it all over her bed.

She goes through every belonging of hers with crazy hands. 

“Please, please, please”, she whispers as she searches. 

Finally, she finds it: a piece of folded paper, inside of one of her scrolls. 

She opens it and reads it. 

“Hel’s invoking spell… to bring back the dead…”, she says. 

Her eyes are shining. She sees a hope. A smile even forms on her face. 

And then suddenly someone puts a bag on her head and knocks her down. 

Everything is dark.

**END OF EPISODE #7**


	8. Episode 08 - With knowledge comes danger

**EPISODE #8, “** **WITH KNOWLEDGE COMES DANGER** **”** **.**

The sun rises in that village where Gabrielle is staying. 

Her bedroom at the inn is empty. Her every belonging turned upside down just like she left it when she was looking for the page with the Hel’s invoking spell the night before. 

Xena’s urn lies on top of the little table, untouched. It reflects the sun rays and shines as if it has a life of its own. 

Gabrielle is nowhere to be seen.

***

In his own little house/bedroom of now, Erastus is putting his boots on and looking outside the window. He sighs and has a weird feeling, which is seen because his eyes are dark, despite the day being bright and beautiful. 

Remy is nowhere to be seen either. He left the night before. 

The old man gets up and gets his staff to help him walk. 

***

Erastus walks to the tavern to have breakfast. It is open and full of people already. He sits by the balcony and says to Milah:

“Good morning, Milah. I’ll have the usual breakfast, please”

“As you wish, sir”, the woman smiles at him. “Oh by the way, have you seen Gabrielle? She forgot to have dinner last night - which never happens. That girl could eat an ox and still be hungry”

“When I saw her, she was rushing to the inn”, he answers. “I think she needed to be alone or something like that”

Milah nods, understanding.

“I only hope she is alright. She’s a… a very good girl”

“Indeed she is”

“I’ll be right back with your breakfast”

Milah turns around and goes to the kitchen to tell the cook (her husband) Erastus’ order. 

The old man looks around and sees Dimitrios and Alec having breakfast by the corner of the establishment. They both raise their mugs of milk at him in a compliment, and he smiles back and raises his hand to say hello. 

“Excuse me, is this place taken?”, a woman appears by Erastus’ side, and she has a kind smile. She’s pointing at a little bench right beside the old man. 

**_It is Eve, Xena’s daughter_ ** . 

He looks at her and gets a feeling from her, as if she is emanating pure light, pure  **_love_ ** . 

“No, this place is free. Please, go ahead”, he responds with his most polite voice. 

Eve, then, sits next to him and greets Milah with a warm smile. 

“What can I get you, honey pie?”, she asks. 

“Hmmm… Do you happen to have a ‘breakfast of the day’ or something?”, Eve inquiries. 

“Yes, we do. Scrambled eggs with sausages, a glass of milk and pumpkin soup”

“That’s perfect, I’ll have that, thank you”, Eve keeps smiling. 

Milah turns around to go to the kitchen again.

“I am sorry, but do you happen to know if this is the tavern where the bard Gabrielle tells her stories?”, Eve asks Erastus. 

He looks at her. 

“Yes, it is. Every week or even twice a week when she feels like it”

“Do you know where I can find her?”, Eve’s eyes shine. 

“I beg your pardon, young lady… but I happen to be a friend of Gabrielle. A  **_protective_ ** friend. So if you don’t mind my asking… Who are you?”

“My name is Eve”, she replies, and Erastus’ eyes soften and at the same time open wide. “I’m Xena’s daughter. And basically Gabrielle’s daughter as well”

“By the gods, pardon me”, Erastus gestures asking for forgiveness with his head. “I had no idea”

“That’s fine”, Eve responds with a smile. “It makes me glad to know that Gabrielle has such a good friend as you. What is your name, sir?”

“It’s Erastus. If you’d like to meet with Gabrielle, she’s staying at the Bastianinn by the end of the street”

“Thank you, I will definitely stop by later”

“Here are your breakfasts”, Milah says as she deposits the dishes in front of both Eve and Erastus. 

They both thank her with “thank you”s.

“So, for how long have you known Gabrielle?”, Eve asks him as she begins eating. 

“Since she got here to this village, about… two months ago. We became good friends right away”, Erastus stops to look at Eve. “Eve, I would like to say… My condolences”

Eve smiles weakly. 

“Thank you”, she simply responds. “I know my mom is being taken care of by the One God. He looks after us all, may we be here in this world or not”

He gets curious and even intrigued by what she says, so he dares to change the subject to one of his own interest:

“Don’t you think it is strange that, even though most of the Olympian gods are gone, the power that connects people to them is still alive?”

“I don’t think this is strange at all”, Eve responds and drinks some of her milk. “When it comes to gods and beliefs, the strongest thing that there is is  **_faith_ ** . Faith can keep powers alive, faith can make everything remain. And with faith, anything is possible”

Erastus seems to think deeply and he just nods, having a spoonful of pumpkin soup. 

All of a sudden, Petra enters the tavern, and she is visibly altered. In despair. 

“Erastus!  **_Thank the gods!_ ** ”, she says as she gets close to him and Eve. She looks between the two of them. “I think… I think Gabrielle was kidnapped”

***INTRO PLAYS***

Erastus has despair in his face, and so does Eve. 

“What?”, Eve says as she slowly gets up from the bench to face Petra. 

“I… I went to see her at the inn, and her door was open”, Petra continues. “Her stuff were messy and spreaded around and she’s nowhere to be found. It seems someone broke in”

“Let us go there immediately”, Erastus says. 

“Who… who are you?”, Petra asks Eve. 

“I’m Xena’s daughter, Eve”

Petra’s eyebrows rise as she travels her eyes over Eve.

They all rush out of the tavern.

***

Erastus, Eve, Petra and Bastian are inside Gabrielle’s bedroom. 

“Oh, my God”, Eve says, looking around. She finally spots Xena’s urn and walks to it. 

“Something bad happened here”, Erastus grabs a piece of paper from her bed - Hel’s spell. “Gabrielle would not leave without Hel’s invoking spell”

“Or my mom’s ashes”, Eve speaks and places a gentle hand on the urn, her eyes filling with tears. 

“Yeah, this door was definitely forced”, Bastian tells everyone as he checks the door lock and key hole. 

“Whoever came here got what they came for”, Erastus says in a dark tone.

“What could Gabrielle possibly have that they would want?”, Petra asks. 

“It’s not what she has”, Erastus turns to her. “It’s what she  **_knows_ ** ”

***

Gabrielle is tied by her wrists to the ceiling, with a thick and hurtful chain. She’s inside some sort of cavern or old, stone house; her mouth is full of blood that spills and runs to her chin. 

She has scratches all over her body - which is covered by wraps of fabric that cover her breasts and her lower parts. It’s clear she’s been beaten. 

A man holds a whip.

“Are you ready to speak now?”, he asks her. 

She lifts her head to look at him. He’s the typical bad guy. Evil face, evil eyes, dark clothes and no pity. 

“You should kill me”, she says. “I’ll never tell you”

“Oh, really?”, the man walks to behind her and prepares the whip. “Let’s see if you’ll say the same with your back open to the crows”

He whips her once. Twice. Three times. Gabrielle screams and cries with pain. It’s a horrible scene. 

“I… will never… tell you…”, she repeats panting. 

“I don’t understand you”, the man speaks to her. He walks to her front and holds her chin forcefully. “If you tell me where it is, I’ll go get it and heal you. Sounds like a good deal to me, but **_you_ ** … you seem to be masochist or some crap like that”

“Some… things… are not meant… to be held by men…”, Gabrielle says and drools some blood on the floor. 

“Once I have it, I will be no man”, he slaps her face. “ **_I will be a god_ ** ”

“No”, Gabrielle shakes her head, and that’s all she says. 

“No? Well…”, the man turns to whoever else is there, in the house, in that room, and opens his arms as if he is a magician giving a show. “Release the hungry beasts”

A sack of rats is turned on the floor. 

At least 50 rats, tiny, thin, starving, run to Gabrielle to lick her blood of the floor. She tries to kick some, a little desperate with moans and groans, as they begin to bite her feet and toes. 

“Hungry rats, kept in a hot oven, will eat anything”, the man whispers by Gabrielle’s ears. 

But Gabrielle is managing to kick the rats away, step on some, kill some others. The man gets pissed and punches her on the stomach, screaming loudly and angrily:

“ **_TELL ME WHERE THE ROD OF ASCLEPIUS IS!!!_ ** ”

***

“We need to find her, she is in danger”, Eve speaks as she, Erastus, Bastian and Petra walk out of the inn. 

“Look!”, Petra points at the dirt floor. “ **_Wagon trails_ ** … There are no wagons here in the village that are that large”

“We only have small ones for food and clothes”, Bastian completes, agreeing. 

“Well, let’s follow it!!!”, Petra quickly speaks. 

“Wait”, Erastus, the voice of reason, says. “We don’t know how far they might have gone. We need horses”

“I’ll get some from the stables”, Bastian says and immediately runs away from them. 

“We’ll wait here!”, Erastus yells behind him. 

***

Bastian is getting three horses from the stables - all the horses there are. 

One man enters the stables and yells at him.

“Oy!! That’s my horse!”, he exclaims.

“Sir, I know, and I am sorry, but I really need to borrow it”, Bastian says as he pulls the horses by the reins. “I promise I’ll bring it back safe”

“Are you joking, innkeeper?!”, the man gets angry. “I’m going to use this horse  **_right now!_ ** I’m leaving!”

The man walks to his horse and tries to grab the reins from Bastian. 

“No!”, Bastian exclaims, and he won’t let go.

Finally, the man steps back and grabs a pocket knife from his belt, and he’s pointing it at Bastian. 

“Give me my horse, you bloody thief…”

Bastian freezes, and he has no other choice… But, before he can do anything, the man falls to the floor unconscious, because someone just hit him really hard in the face with a metal vase. 

Milah, Bastian’s wife. 

He smiles at her.

“Milah!”

“Go! I’ll tie him up to a wild boar and set it free in the forest”, she says as she goes to some shelf there in the stables to grab a rope. 

“Gabrielle is in danger, we’re going to help”, Bastian speaks as he approaches his wife quickly. 

“Be safe, you”, she grabs the rope and turns to the man, when Bastian rapidly gives her a kiss. 

“Be safe **_you_ ** ”, he says and smiles. “I’ll bring her back safe and sound”

“I know you will”, she smiles back. “Now  **_go_ ** ”

Bastian goes back to the horses and goes outside. 

There, he mounts one of the horses and, holding the others’ reins, begin riding it towards the Erastus and the girls. 

***

Gabrielle is finally alone. The rats are scared of approaching her, and some of them found a way out of that room. Some are dead on the floor. But Gabrielle’s feet and toes are definitely injured and bleeding. 

She’s having difficulty to breathe. She looks up to see her hands firmly tied by the chains. No effort of hers would free her hands. She tries to pull them anyway, in vain. It only makes her groan in pain. Every part of her body hurts, especially her back, open to the flesh. 

She looks to the side where there is a small window really high up in the wall and sees the brightness of the sun. Some things can be heard. 

She hears as someone arrives there by horse. It’s a man, because she hears him saying words to stop his own horse, such as “eyaaa”.

“Hello?”, she says in a weak voice. And she coughs to yell louder. “ **_HELP!!_ ** HELP ME, THEY ARE TORTURING ME!!!”

A laughter, that Gabrielle recognizes as being her capturer’s. 

“Is that her?”, the man from the horse asks outside.

“Yeah, that’s the bastard”, the kidnapper answers. “Do you have what I ordered?”

“Sure do”, (the man hands him a tiny bottle). “Use it carefully, this shit is strong”

(The kidnapper examines the bottle)

“Good stuff”, he says. 

“Now where’s my gold?”

“Right here, you son of a harpy”, (the kidnapper makes a gesture with his hand and an arrow is shot through the man’s throat. He groans and falls down of the horse, dying)

Gabrielle gets scared hearing those sounds. That man is no man to joke with. 

After some minutes, the capturer opens the door that leads to the room where Gabrielle is being kept. He looks at her with evil eyes and a sadic grin. His hand holds the tiny, dark bottle he received from the (now dead) other man. 

“I have something for you here”, he says. “Something that will bring you to your knees… And after some time… You’ll be telling me where the rod is voluntarily”

Gabrielle swallows dry. She can’t know what is inside that bottle, but she fears it. 

***

Bastian arrives with the horses at the same time as Erastus is coming out of the inn again, but this time with Gabrielle’s things inside her backpack that he is carrying. 

“There were only three horses”, Bastian says.

“I- I can’t ride”, Petra speaks.

The Livia inside Eve appears as she climbs the horse’s loin with dexterity, and then she offers a hand to Petra. 

“Ride with me”

Petra watches that scene with utter admiration, and smiles as she grabs Eve’s hand and climbs the horse, holding Eve’s waist firmly right after. 

“Are you sure you want to go, Petra?”, Erastus asks as he mounts the only horse left. “This might be dangerous”

“Gabrielle is my friend too”, she responds. “I want her safe”

“Let’s go! Ya!”, Bastian says and he begins to run with his horse. 

The others follow. 

***

The capturer drops some drips inside Gabrielle’s mouth. Of the content of that dark bottle. The content is dark green. She spits it, and receives some punches and slaps on the face. 

“ **_Do not spit it!_ ** ”, the man yells at her. “Or I’ll rip off your fingernails one by one! Do you understand?”

Gabrielle doesn’t say anything, so the man grabs her face, opens her mouth and drops more drips inside. This time he holds her chin up, so she swallows accidentally. 

She coughs and almost vomits, but she did swallow it. 

“There”, the man smiles evilly. “Now all I have to do is wait and talk to you every now and then”

He steps back, grabs a bench and sits in front of Gabrielle with his legs crossed. He looks at the window.

“Any time now”

Gabrielle’s head begins to spin. She gets dizzy; something is happened with her. She’s been  **_drugged_ ** . Heavily drugged. 

“What… what is happening…”, she mumbles. 

“ **_The rod of Asclepius_ ** ”, she hears a male voice in the back of her head, like an echo. 

“The rod in the lake”, Gabrielle murmurs. “Xena…”

Everything is dark. 

We hear the splash of the rod in the lake.

“I wish we never threw that rod in the lake…”, Gabrielle’s voice appears in the darkness. “Maybe I could have saved you with it somehow”

“You couldn’t have”, Xena’s voice makes Gabrielle opens her eyes. 

Gabrielle sees Xena in front of her. She’s as beautiful as ever, with her loving eyes that are so expressive: they express love, the feeling of miss, joy and sadness, all together. Gabrielle doesn’t see the man that is sitting in front of her. She only sees Xena in the corner of the room. 

“Xena…?”, Gabrielle asks, her eyes wanting to close. 

“I’m here, Gabrielle”, Xena says. “And I don’t want you to have any regrets. What happened happened. You can’t change that. You and I… had the best memories together. Damage, my life  **_only began_ ** when I met you. I will forever cherish that”

“Is that what you are saying to me or what I wish you were saying to me?”, Gabrielle asks, confused. 

“Both”, Xena responds, but she doesn’t get closer. “I hope you find happiness again. This is what I wish for you. This is what  **_all of us_ ** wish for all of you”

“I’m finding it”, Gabrielle replies. 

Xena smiles.

“Good”

“ **_The rod of Asclepius_ ** ”, a male voice echoes again. 

Xena looks around with narrowed eyes, and Gabrielle lifts her head, still confused and dizzy. 

“The rod that we threw on that lake… near… near…” 

“Don’t say it”, Xena finally comes closer to put a finger to Gabrielle’s lips and stop her from speaking. 

“Why not?”, Gabrielle asks.

“We need it”, the man’s voice again. “We need the rod”

“We need the rod”, Gabrielle repeats. 

“No, you don’t”, Xena says. “What you need is to find a way out of here. Look where you are, Gabrielle. Look around”

Gabrielle does as said and looks around. First she sees nothing, but then she begins seeing the room in which she is. And the man. She has a moment of sobriety. 

“Release me”, she speaks to the man. “I’ll never tell you where the rod is”

“Oh, no, no, Gabrielle”, the man responds with that same smile. “We are just getting started. The less you give me, the more drops go inside your mouth. And that… might kill you”

“I will… never… tell you…”

She’s going back to the world of illusions. 

She sees herself and Xena throwing the rod in the lake, and it sinking, and ending up in the bottom of the lake, with some fish swimming around it. 

***

The horse that is leading the others is Eve’s and Petra’s. They stop when they see where the tracks lead. A small fortress, surrounded by armed guards. Eve makes a gesture for them to stop, and Bastian and Erastus come closer to her as they begin to see the same thing she’s seeing. 

“Gabrielle is there”, Bastian says. 

“She is”, Eve agrees. “And whoever got her is a warlord”

“A warlord?”, Petra repeats behind Eve, holding on to her. 

“Yes; look at the fortress, all the armed men. This man has means to support a small army and its horses”, she points at a big stable in front of the fortress. “We are outnumbered”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t do anything”, Erastus speaks, trying to control his horse. 

“Of course not”, Eve replies. “We  _ will _ rescue Gabrielle. Even if it is the last thing I do. Ya!”

She commands her horse, and the others follow.

***

Eve, Petra, Erastus and Bastian kneel behind a bush where they can strategically see the fortress and its movements (of guards). 

“What’s the plan?”, Petra asks. 

“Back when I was… Livia…”, Eve starts to say, and Petra lays a comforting hand on her shoulder and offers her a gentle smile, which she retributes and gives her the strength to keep going. “...we used to take on warlords by surprising them nighttime. But I don’t think Gabrielle has this time”

“What’s the strategy you and your men used?”, Erastus asks her. 

“We burned the stables”, Eve replies. “Most of the guards would go get water to try and save their horses while they left the fortress unprotected. Then it got easy to break in and kill everyone on sight”, she swallows hard with the memory.

“That would still work during the day”, Bastian offers. 

“It would if we weren’t so outnumbered”, Eve says. “Right now… We need the cover of the night for that particular strategy”

“Well, let’s think of something else, then, because we need to get Gabrielle out of there as soon as possible”, Erastus says. 

“Erastus”, Eve turns to him with curious eyes. “You told us that they kidnapped Gabrielle because of what she  **_knows_ ** . What is that, exactly?”

“Well, my dear Eve, if my thoughts are correct… I believe someone kidnapped Gabrielle to know the whereabouts of the **_rod of Asclepius_ ** ”

“You mean from that first story she told?”, Petra asks. 

“Yes”, Erastus replies. “From the beginning I thought she was being extremely bold and careless for telling us the true version of the story - that she and Xena know where the rod is - instead of lying and saying it was destroyed, lost forever or something related. But then again, I don’t believe she had anything to live for back then. I don’t believe she cared if she were going to get kidnapped or even tortured. Maybe… she even  **_wanted_ ** those things to happen”

No one says anything. They just think and feel bad for Gabrielle. 

“But now… now that she finally saw a light in the end of the tunnel, my best bet is that she regrets ever telling that story. It traveled all the way to the wrong people. To bad people”, Erastus continues. 

“What do you mean she saw a light in the end of the tunnel?”, Bastian inquiries. 

Everyone looks at Erastus with expectant eyes.

“It’s because she found joy again, in telling stories, isn’t it, Erastus?”, Petra cuts in. 

Erastus shoots her a meaningful look. 

“No, it’s not”, Eve responds, reading his expression. “It’s something else”

“Is it because she can bring Xena back to life?”, Bastian asks. 

Everyone looks at him with wide, surprised eyes. 

“ **_What?_ ** ”, Petra inquiries him. 

“Why, come on, don’t tell me y’all didn’t notice how she had a self realization and rushed out of the tavern last night”, Bastian replies. “And that  **_right after_ ** telling us that that spell of the norse goddess can bring people from the dead”

Erastus smiles at him. 

“You’re very observant, innkeeper”, he speaks. 

“I’m much more than just an innkeeper”, Bastian responds. “It seemed like Gabrielle had totally forgotten about that happening. As if she was so busy grieving and getting used to the pain that she accepted it fully… without questioning it”

“Well, sometimes it is better if you don’t question it”, Eve says in a dark done. 

“By the gods!!!”, Petra exclaims. “Gabrielle can bring Xena back?!”

“That I don’t know for sure”, Erastus says. “Xena died under conditions… that made sure to keep her dead. I only hope the goddess Hel is powerful enough to revert them”

“How do you know so much about all of this?”, Eve looks at him with accusing eyes. “ **_Who are you?_ ** ”

Erastus’ eyes become dark.

“We can either spend time on me telling my story or coming up with a plan to free Gabrielle”, he answers. “And I think the latter is way more important”

***

The man unchains Gabrielle and she falls to the floor of the room, completely broken, drugged and limp. It is as if she can’t hold her own body up - and she really can’t. 

He kneels beside Gabrielle. 

“What is the name of the lake…”, he asks slowly. “...in which you and Xena sank the rod of Asclepius?”

Gabrielle coughs some blood on the floor and shrinks within herself. 

“Lake…”, she speaks. 

Inside her head, she sees the lake. She and Xena again throw the rod in the lake. But something else happens after they do it. Xena holds Gabrielle’s face with gentleness and love and looks inside her eyes profoundly. 

“Gabrielle”, she says. “Give him the name of another lake”

“Yes, Xena?”, Gabrielle asks. “Should I do that?”

Xena nods and pecks her. 

“But wait some more”, she continues. “I know you can handle some more. Wait, because help is coming”

“I can handle some more”, Gabrielle says, numbly. “I can handle some more!”

The man stands up and rolls his eyes. 

“Darned be that herb dealer donkey”, he says with rage. “Selling me bloody chamomile and rose  **_tea_ ** ”, he spits on the floor, close to Gabrielle. 

He grabs the small bottle from his pocket, goes back to kneeling beside the bard and drops more drips inside her static open mouth. 

She coughs and sneezes, and the man steps on her hand; she lets out a loud and painful scream. 

***

The scream is so loud that Petra, Eve, Erastus and Bastian hear it from outside, from the bushes. 

Eve is about to leave them to execute the plan they worked on, but she turns to look at her companions with a worried face. Petra gives her a reassuring look, and so Eve goes on.

She is quiet in the middle of the bushes/forest. She spots her prey. It is a man, a guard, that is keeping safe a little piece of territory of his own. 

“Oy!”, he screams at another guard, around 10m of distance, who looks at him. “I will take a piss! See my area!”

The other man only nods. 

“Things just got easier”, Eve speaks like a predator as she sees the man entering the woods where she is hiding. 

She surrounds him like a panther. 

He is peeing on a bush. Eve rolls her eyes. Now she has to wait to give him a “noble end”. 

When he lifts his pants again, Eve immediately hits him in the joint of the neck with the shoulder, strategically, and he falls down to the ground, unconscious. She drags him inside the woods. 

***

Bastian, dressed with the clothes and armor of the guard Eve just kidnapped, is holding Eve, fakely as his prisoner, and walking towards the fortress. She has her hands supposedly tied. 

“Look what I found in the woods!”, he exclaims (as if he were a guard). 

Some men come to check. 

“She’s a beauty”, one man comments with a dirty smile. 

“Let me have a piece of her”, another one says. 

“Shut up, you disgusting rotten meats”, Bastian speaks with authority. “This I will bring to the boss. She told me she’s friends with the woman he captured”

“She might help getting the bard to open her mouth”, one man speaks. “Giles drugged her, but she’s babbling nonsense. Maybe threatening to kill her friend will make her speak”

Eve and Bastian get stiff knowing that Gabrielle is drugged, but they try not to show it. 

“He drugged her?”, Bastian asks. 

“Yeah, some herb crap, she’s been hallucinating for some time now”, the man responds as they walk together to the fortress. “Been speaking of Xena and the lake, but never of  **_which lake_ ** they threw the rod of Asclepius in. If you ask me, I don’t think Giles knows how to conduct a drugged person right. He’s been being too soft on her. He ain’t leading her right”

“I bet he isn’t”, Bastian replies with a clenched jaw. 

Finally they stop by the big door/gates of the fortress. There’s another guard there. 

“I brought mr. Giles a woman that knows the bard he’s torturing”, Bastian speaks. “Perhaps this will help with the interrogation”

The guard looks at Eve from head to toe. 

“Have you inspected her?”, he asks Bastian.

“Of course I have”, he answers normally. 

“I’ll have to inspect her again before letting her in the fortress”, the guard announces. 

Eve bites her cheek and Bastian gets nervous sweat. 

“You think I’m a goof who can’t inspect a woman?”, Bastian replies. “I’ve  **_inspected_ ** her alright, if you know what I mean. Didn’t find anything  **_sharp_ ** ”

The guard looks at him, and then finally lets out a chuckle. He opens the gate.

“Alright, go in”

Bastian pushes Eve gently and they begin walking through the hallway. 

“Good answer”, Eve whispers to him. 

Bastian lets out a giggle. 

“When you own a tavern, you get the hang of how this kinda men speaks”, he answers. 

“I know what you mean”, Eve says back. 

They hear Gabrielle’s screams as they get to that room. 

But that room is guarded by two heavily armed men by the door. They stop Bastian and Eve. 

“What do you want?”, one of them asks. 

“This woman claims to know Gabrielle”, Bastian says in a loud tone, in order to make Giles turn around and look at him - which happens. 

Giles gets up (he was standing next to Gabrielle’s bloody body on the floor) and walks to Bastian and Eve. He puts his hands on the shoulders of his guards. 

“Easy, boys”, he speaks. “Now, who are you? I don’t remember your face”

Bastian sweats with jitters, but keeps his cool. 

“My name is Adhor, sir”, he answers. “I came from Athens”

“Ah, the mercenaries from Athens, of course”, Giles shakes his head. “I had almost forgotten about you and your gang. Who is  **_she_ ** ?”

“Sir, this is Eve, Xena and Gabrielle’s  **_daughter_ ** ”, Bastian replies with an evil smirk. “Can you believe she surrendered voluntarily?”

Giles gets too close to Eve to look into her eyes, as she looks back with contempt. 

“And why would she do that?”, he asks.

“I know you have Gabrielle with you”, she responds. “It was just a matter of time until someone got her to ask of her knowledge. But she has… she has always been too loyal, too committed with the higher power. And she doesn’t realize that her life is worth way more than any godly object in this world”

“Hm”, Giles hums. “Finally someone with good sense. What are  **_you_ ** still doing here?”, he asks Bastian. “Go back to your position as I handle this lady here”

Bastian nods, turns around and goes away. 

Eve is alone, but she is not scared. She  **_was_ ** Livia, after all. 

“I have been preaching for the one god for years now…”, she speaks in her sweet and innocent tone, with puppy eyes. “...praying for Him to take care of Gabrielle’s mourning heart. Every night I pray that she is comforted, that she finds joy again in her life, because I know that is what my mom would have wanted. And yet she seems to be devastated and unable to move on. I traveled here from far away to be with her, to help her, and followed her until this very fortress. Please, sir, let me take care of her. I’ll make her give you what you want… if you allow her to live and go away with me afterwards”

Giles looks at her carefully with suspicious eyes. 

“You really care about her, don’t you?”, he asks. 

“She is my  **_family_ ** ”, Eve answers. “I love her with all my heart”

“Well”, Giles dries his bloodied hands on a piece of fabric he has been holding. “I guess it is worth a shot. But, she’s passed out now, she won’t be of any good. Why don’t you join me for lunch in the meantime?”

Eve is visibly not comfortable with that, but still she fakes a smile and nods, as Giles grabs a dagger from his belt and cuts the tiny rope that has been  _ (not really) _ tying her hands. 

They walk side by side through the hall.

***

Bastian walks around the camp as if he was indeed one of the guards. He waves to some men who wave back and walks to the woods. 

After some time inside the woods, he stops, looks around, and makes a bird call. Hesitant, still looking around, he notices some movements by the bushes near him. 

One bird call is performed back, and he relaxes. 

Petra and Erastus come out of the bushes and look at him.

“How did it go?”, Erastus asks. 

“Is Eve safe?”, Petra follows. 

Bastian takes off his helmet and holds it under his arm. 

“Everything went well”, he says. “She’s with Gabrielle’s capturer, whose name is Giles. Last thing I heard when I was hiding to eavesdrop was that they were going to have lunch together”

“That’s not on the plan”, Petra speaks, freaking out a little. 

“Listen, listen”, Erastus says with a calm voice. “Eve is a great warrior. She knows her ways, and even though now she is devoted to a life of peace, I know she’ll do whatever it takes to save Gabrielle. She is all she has”

Petra calms down a little. 

“Did you gather the wood and the rocks?”, Bastian asks. 

“We gathered some, but we need more”, Erastus says.

“We will stick up with the plan, right?”, Petra asks. “Do you think Eve can… take care of herself  **_and_ ** Gabrielle until the sun is down?”

“I am afraid that she saw no other choice when she came up with this plan, Petra dear”, Erastus tells her. 

“Let’s go, then”, Bastian says as he drops the helmet on the floor and walks to the bushes. 

They follow.

***

Eve and Giles are sitting by a large table, one at each extremity. There is lots of food on the table, and wine. They have big plates of all kinds of food in front of them.

Giles is cutting his meat and eating it.

“Please, go ahead”, he gestures to Eve.

Eve grabs her fork and begins eating only the vegetables. 

“You must think I am a monster”, Giles speaks. “Capturing your other mother to force her to tell me where the rod of Asclepius is”

Eve shrugs. 

“She knew the consequences of telling that story”, she responds. “My bet is she wanted to suffer”

Giles looks at her in awe. 

“I mean because she was grieving”, Eve completes and drinks some wine. “When we are grieving, we want to suffer”, her eyes get lost in memories. Then, she snaps out of it. “I just hope she wakes up soon so I can make her tell you where the rod is”

“So you really don’t think I am awful for doing that?”, he asks her. 

“Oh, I do think you’re awful”, Eve replies. “But you must have another reason as well. A dying wife, son, or yourself, perhaps”

Giles looks at her even more surprised. 

“Did I get it right?”, Eve asks. 

“Y-you can’t know this…”, he replies. 

“Well, I know a man is a monster for  **_reasons_ ** . They can be explainable and make sense to the world, or not. I only guessed your reasons belong to the first category”

Giles lets out a giggle and resumes eating. 

“You can read people”, he says. “You’re very good”

“Thank you”, she replies. “Which is why I can tell you that I know for sure Gabrielle will tell you where the rod is”

“Oh, I don’t doubt you, Eve, I don’t doubt you. However, I am curious. Once Gabrielle tells me where the rod is and you two walk away, alive and unharmed, what do you plan on doing?”

She eats some more. 

“I plan on taking her with me”, she replies. “On my travels. Seeing the world and helping people heal is the best way to heal yourself”

“Hmmm”, Giles eats more himself. “You don’t want her to keep telling stories?”

“If she wants”, Eve says. “She can”

“Whether she continues telling stories, I highly hope she will have the good sense of  **_lying_ ** in the end”, Giles drinks whine and giggles. “When I first put my hands on that scroll, I didn’t have this in mind, you know. No… I bought the scroll for my daughter, my beautiful daughter, who is in love with Xena and Gabrielle’s adventures. When I read it to her, this idea started to form. This idea of going to meet Gabrielle and ask her of the rod of Asclepius. But when I reached the end of the story and saw that she and Xena  **_sank_ ** the rod in a lake for no men to ever find it… I realized I’d have to take the other road”, he eats some more grapes. “You see, I am not ready to leave my wife and daughter alone in this terrible world. I have no intention to. Yet, Aceso must be mad at me, for she refuses to heal me, despite my desperate prayers. If Aceso won’t help me, her father will, without his and her consent. Asclepius… his rod”

“So you’re sick”, Eve says, looking into his eyes. 

He nods, bleakly. 

“I can feel the life leaving my body slowly”, he replies. “Each day I’m weaker, and my lungs prove it by expelling blobs of blood. No herb, doctor, healer or shaman can cure me. But I know the rod can”

“There is one thing you didn’t try”, Eve says. 

“And what is that?”

“You could surrender your pain to the One God”

The man raises an eyebrow with disbelief in his face. 

“Are you serious right now?”, he asks Eve. “And here I was, thinking I could have an honest conversation with you”

“What is the matter?”, Eve inquiries. “I  **_am_ ** being honest. You would get impressed if you witnessed the miracles I did”

One man enters the dining room, a guard, and he announces:

“Sir… The bard woke up”

“Oh, great”, Giles says and cleans his mouth with a fabric napkin. “We will go see her when we are finished eating. Clean her wounds”

Eve’s hand closes tighter on her knife; she is boiling with anger but trying to disguise it with a neutral face. Just the thought that they’ve been hurting Gabrielle makes her blood flare. 

She looks outside the window and sees the position of the sun. 

“About three hours past midday, Eve”, Giles says when he spots her doing that. “Got anywhere to be?”

“Yes”, she answers. “On the road, with Gabrielle”.

Giles smiles and finishes eating, and so does Eve (finishes eating).

***

Giles and Eve walk to Gabrielle’s room. 

Eve sees her; she is still groggy and the drugs still have some effect over her. She has bandages all over her body, covering and protecting the wounds that still bleed. Eve’s eyes turn soft and pitiful as she rushes to her other mom, fighting against the tears. 

“Gabrielle”, she whispers, and kneels besides her to give her a hug. 

Gabrielle doesn’t answer much, she is dizzy and barely can keep her eyes open. 

“E-... Eve?”, she manages to say. 

Eve grabs her face with so much love and looks inside her eyes with a relieved smile. 

“Yes, it’s me”

“You… you look so much like your mother”, Gabrielle says.

Eve turns to Giles. 

“She is under no condition to say anything”, she tells him. “She needs to rest and be lucid for this”

Giles sighs. 

“Shit, yeah, I guess I did drug her too much”, he says as he scratches his nape. “Uh, Loti, get her a bucket of water and some leftovers of the lunch we just had”

“What did you give her?”, Eve asks, standing up. “With **_what_ ** did you drug her?”

“You think I care? I just asked for the strongest bullshit to make someone talk”

“Do you still have the bottle?”

Giles grabs the bottle from his pocket and hands it to her. Eve opens it and smells it. She grimaces. 

“For the love of  **_God_ ** …”, she speaks and goes back to kneeling beside Gabrielle. Without Giles noticing,  _ she puts the bottle inside her own pocket _ . “What did you do to her…”

She fondles Gabrielle’s face with some tears forming in her eyes. 

“Will she be able to talk?”, Giles asks. 

A man gets there with a bucket of water and a plate with some food. Eve immediately grabs the plate and sits across Gabrielle. 

“ **_Maybe_ ** ... if I feed her and take care of her”, she responds, and turns her head to shoot a deadly look to Giles. “Pray to whatever god you believe in that her brain is intact”

Giles is visibly altered. Worried, even, worried that he might have caused too much damage to Gabrielle and that she won’t be able to come back to her senses ever again. 

“Gabrielle, eat this”, Eve says as she holds a spoon of food in front of Gabrielle’s mouth. 

Giles, nervous, walks away, and leaves the two of them alone, speaking to one of the guards:

“Guard them”

Eve watches him leave.

Gabrielle can feel the smell of the food, so she opens her mouth and Eve feeds her with a content smile. The blonde is leaning against the wall, very uncomfortable. Her eyes are filled with tears. 

“Eve…”, she says, weak, barely moving her mouth after she swallowed. 

“Shh… You don’t have to say anything. Just eat and drink a lot of water. I am here to take you out of here”

“I didn’t tell him…”, Gabrielle speaks in a quiet tone. “I didn’t tell him in which lake Xena and I sank the rod”

“And you are very brave for that”, Eve says. “I am proud of you, and I know my mom is too. Gabrielle, listen…”, she looks over her shoulder to see if the guard is listening. He seems to be too far away to hear anything, but regardless she still lowers her tone even more, to only a whisper now. “I have some friends here with me. Erastus, Bastian and Petra are in the woods”

Gabrielle opens her eyes a little wider to the mention of these names. 

“They’re here?”, she asks. 

“They are. We came to rescue you, and that is what we are going to do. But there is one thing. I told Giles, your capturer, that I will make you tell him which lake”

Gabrielle stiffens against the wall. 

“Wait”, Eve speaks, trying to soothe her. “You won’t say the  **_real_ ** lake. Just another regular lake, far away from here”

Gabrielle smiles, reaches for the bucket of water. Eve helps her and she takes some sips. She coughs and cleans her wet mouth. 

“You’re just like your mother”, she speaks. 

Eve smiles. 

“Thank you”, she blushes. “We have to wait until the sun goes down. Until then, you’ll have to act drugged”

Gabrielle nods. 

“Eve… thank you”

“Don’t thank me yet”, she replies. “Besides, we have a lot to do once we are far from here. Don’t we?”

Gabrielle looks deeply inside her eyes and smiles. 

“We do”

***

The sun goes down on the horizon. Some owls begin to sing… bats begin to whistle. The wind shakes the tree tops. 

Giles enters Gabrielle’s room.

“So?”, he asks. 

Gabrielle is still leaning against the wall, with Eve sitting down next to her. The plate is empty and so is the bucket, which means Gabrielle ate everything and drank everything. Gabrielle looks at him with tears in her eyes. 

“I don’t know who you are…”, she says. “...or the size of the evilness inside you. But Eve offered me a new life… a life of peace and love, a life of helping other people. Which is what I’ve been doing my whole adult life. She told me you will let me go with her if I tell you about the lake”

Giles smiles evilly at her. 

“Eve is correct”, he says. “You’ll have a new life if you tell me where the rod is”

“What will you do with the rod?”, she asks.

Giles looks at Eve, who nods. 

“I will heal myself”, he responds. 

Gabrielle has a realization. She sighs. 

“Xena and I… sank the rod… in the  **_Trichonida lake_ ** ”

Giles’ eyes open wide and his smile is genuine, but still evil. 

“Well, Eve, I must say I am impressed”, he speaks. “I honestly thought you would take some more time to convince her”

“She and I just want to get out of here”, Eve responds. “To our new lives”

“Sounds fair”, he turns to Gabrielle. “Which side of the lake?”

“North…”, she responds, weakly. “About… a hundred steps in”

“How obedient are you”, he kneels beside Gabrielle and squeezes her cheek. “Doesn’t even look like the brave woman that furiously refused to give me any kind of information”

“Let us go”, Eve demands as she stands up. “ **_Now_ ** ”

“But of course”, Giles gets up to and gestures the way out. “You’re both free to go. Hear that? Guards? They’re free to go”

Eve helps Gabrielle stand up and they both begin to walk to the exit of the fortress. 

It is dark outside and the men have some torches around. 

When Eve and Gabrielle are halfway through the camp, Giles, who is watching alongside with one of his guards, tells him:

“Follow them. Stick to them. If I don’t find the rod in the lake Trichonida, you’ll bring Gabrielle to me again”

The man nods and follows Gabrielle and Eve. 

But before he could walk any further, a fuzzle starts. 

**_The stables are on fire_ ** . 

“The stables are on fire!”, the men begin to yell and run to get buckets of water.

The horses run away from the stables, for they were set free by  **_someone_ ** . 

Now everyone has their attention to the stables.

“Control that fire! Now!”, Giles yells. And when he turns to look back at Gabrielle and Eve,  **_they’re gone. Out of sight_ ** . “NO!!!”

***

Gabrielle and Eve are running how they can through the forest. Gabrielle falls down, but Eve catches her. 

“Come on, Gabrielle, just a little further”, she says, and they go on running for their lives. 

***

“Where the hell did you go?”, Giles screams.

“Sir!!!”, one of the guards approaches Giles. “The south road is blocked by rocks and wood!”

“ **_That’s where they went_ ** ”, Giles speaks with anger. “Gather all the men and  **_FOLLOW THEM!_ ** ”

“But, sir, the road is blocked…”

“I don’t give a shit about the road being blocked”, angrily, he grabs the man’s throat and squeezes it hard. “Go  **_around_ ** it, you useless cow crap!!!”

“It… it is a small canyon, sir…”, the man struggles to say with a raspy throat. “There are big stone walls… We can’t… we can’t go around it”

Giles grabs his sword and kills the man, cutting his head off. 

“ **_UNBLOCK THE SOUTH ROAD AND GO AFTER GABRIELLE, NOW_ ** ”, he screams to all the men, his blood boiling and his sword dripping. 

***

“Come on, we don’t have much time”, Eve keeps helping Gabrielle to walk. 

Finally, they find Petra, Erastus and Bastian, that are by a small, grassy road in the dark, with three horses. 

“Gabrielle,  **_thank the gods_ ** ”, Petra immediately goes and hugs her. “We were all so worried”

Gabrielle groans with pain, but smiles and hugs her back. 

“We have to go  **_now_ ** ”, Bastian says as he climbs his horse. “Gabrielle, come with me”, he offers his hand.

Gabrielle takes his hand and joins him on the horse. 

Erastus himself climbs his own horse and looks at Gabrielle with a smile that she reciprocates. 

Eve mounts her horse and grabs Petra with her. 

“You think they’ll believe we went south?”, Petra asks Eve. 

“An angry man will believe anything that is in front of his eyes without questioning it”, Eve replies. “Let’s go, ya!”

They all make their horses ride, and they ride into the darkness, with no one following them. 

***

Erastus, Gabrielle, Eve, Bastian and Petra arrive at a small cabin in the middle of the woods. It is abandoned. 

“This cabin belonged to my grandfather”, Bastian says as he dismounts his horse and helps Gabrielle doing the same. “He was basically a hermit, but I am sure he had dried healing herbs that can be mixed with water and they’ll still work out fine. No one will find us here”

They all dismount their horses and enter the cabin. 

***

The windows are all covered by dark curtains and there is a fireplace shining across the wall. They’re all sitting close to the fire. Eve and Petra are taking care of Gabrielle wounds with unguents and herbal mixes. 

“This man is a monster”, Petra speaks as she cleans Gabrielle’s wounds in her hand. “Just a monster”

“How… how did you find me?”, Gabrielle asks. 

Erastus, that is mixing a soup on a caldron by the fire, looks at her. 

“Petra found your bedroom violated, and we followed wagon tracks and found you there”, he answers. 

“Thank you”, Gabrielle says. “Bastian, you too…”

He shrugs and smiles at her.

“You’re my friend, Gabrielle. I really like our talks when I serve you the meals”

She smiles back. But then her smile fades away, as if she just remembered something. 

“I need to go back to my room”, she says. “And get my stuff”

Erastus points at the corner of the room.

“I gathered everything and brought it to you”, he says. 

“Everything?”, she asks.

“ **_Everything_ ** ”, he replies with a knowing look. “Xena’s ashes and…  **_Hel’s invoking spell._ ** Let me tell you, Gabrielle… Despite my best efforts, it took you some time to recall that episode of your life with Xena”

Gabrielle is in awe. Her brows are furrowed in confusion. 

“ **_What?_ ** ”, she asks him. 

“Oh, dear Gabrielle”, his eyes shine. “We have  **_so much_ ** to talk”

**END OF EPISODE #8**


	9. Episode 09 - Terror from the past

**EPISODE #9, “TERROR FROM THE PAST”**

A voice echoes as the sun rises, as the clouds go by, as a duduk flute is played in the background. 

“I could explain everything to you, Gabrielle”, it is Erastus’ voice. “But there is someone who really wants to meet you… Who can make things clearer than I ever could”

“Who?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“My daughter”, he responds. 

“The one you’ve been communicating with through the messenger bird?”

“Yes. Remy is the name of my bird”

“Why…  **_how_ ** can she make things clearer for me? We should be going after someone who can translate this page right now”

“She can”, Erastus says. “First, you need to be patient. There are more things to be discussed. You cannot rush this, Gabrielle, it is crucial that you don’t”

The horses are riding through the bushes, the hills, the fields. 

Voices, dialogues that are heard as we see the journey of the horses with their riders:

“You don’t have to come along”, Gabrielle says. “Go back to the village, to your lives”

“Milah knows I am helping you”, Bastian responds. “I’ll tag along until we do it”

“Me too”, Petra speaks. “I want to help you however I can”

“And so do I”, Eve completes. “Especially… me”

“You all better rethink that”, Erastus says. “This journey… will be very dangerous”

“Nothing you can say will make me change my mind”, Eve replies. 

“Yeah, stop trying to scare us, wizard”, Bastian enters. 

“Where are we heading?”, Petra asks. 

“To the shore”, Erastus replies. “My daughter must be arriving there any time now”

***

When all of them dismount their horses, Bastian quickly grabs the reins of them all and gathers them together, taking care of them, as the others approach the ship that is coming from the horizon, there… in the sea. (There’s a village there)

“That’s the ship”, Erastus says, because he sees Remy flying some meters above the ship. 

The sun is setting. The ship comes slowly. Gabrielle is very nervous. 

They begin lighting up torches, and some men from the shore, workers, get agitated because it is night and the ship is almost there, so they got work to do. 

“What is the name of your daughter?”, Gabrielle asks, forcing her eyes to try and see in the darkness. 

“She had a name that matters no more today”, Erastus replies with regret in his voice. “Now she goes by  **_Pythia_ ** ”

Gabrielle widens her eyes and looks at him, just like everyone else. 

“What?”, Petra asks him. 

“Your daughter is the  **_Oracle of Delphi_ ** ?”, Gabrielle exclaims. 

Erastus nods, he never stops looking at the ship.

“But… but how…”, Gabrielle begins.

“Each and every question that you might have right now can be answered by her”, he replies a bit rudely. 

Gabrielle walks back and forth. She is too nervous. 

Eve grabs her hands and looks deeply and kindly in her eyes. 

“Hey, hey, breathe…”, she says. “Breathe with me. In… hold… and out. Okay, good. Now, Gabrielle… I don’t know much about what is going on right now. Even less, because turns out I didn’t hear your story. But Petra did tell me that… you might be able to bring my mother back with a spell to a norse goddess. Trust me, I am not opposed… We just need to make sure that the forty thousand souls that are free with my mother’s death remain free when she comes back. Because I know her. I know she won’t have peace if she condemned those souls”

Gabrielle nods. 

“I fear that too”, she replies. “And I have many doubts. With Pythia’s arrival, we can clarify everything”

Eve gives her a big hug. 

“Just know that I’m here for you, okay?”, she says. “Always”

Gabrielle gets tears in her eyes. 

“I know… And Eve, I’m sorry I didn’t… I didn’t go find you after… after Xena died”

Eve smiles weakly at her. 

“It's alright. I understand. I didn’t expect you to. But I wanted to hear from you regardless, and that’s why I came to you. Your stories are  **_fantastic_ ** , Gabrielle”

Gabrielle smiles a little. 

“They’re alright”, she replies. 

“No, I’m telling you, you are **_a bard_ ** ”, Eve insists. 

“It’s what I always tell her”, Petra approaches with a warm smile. “She has the gift… and we are all too privileged to witness it”

Eve smiles at Petra, who responds to it, and Gabrielle giggles. 

“And thanks to that little blonde, bulk woman, our tavern has never been more profitable”, Bastian intervenes with his humor and everyone shares a small laugh. “I’m not here because I care about Gabrielle. All I want is to protect my investment”

“Right”, Petra punches his shoulder lightly as she giggles of his little joke.

“The ship has docked”, Erastus speaks. 

Everything happens together. 

A thick clapboard slides from the boat to the pier. 

Remy, that was flying up, comes diving down and disappears in the middle of the ship. 

One woman appears from the ship with Remy on her shoulder and walks down the clapboard being helped by one man that holds her hand like she is a majesty. She is  **_dressed_ ** as a majesty. Everyone knows that she is the Oracle of Delphi by just looking at her. 

Her face is covered with a white veil. 

Finally, Pythia and her two servants (men) get approach Gabrielle and her gang. 

“Oracle…”, Petra bends over to show her respect. 

The others do the same, except Erastus, who keeps his head up. 

“Gabrielle”, Pythia says, and she takes off her veil, showing her face. “We’ve met before”

Gabrielle looks at her unimpressed. 

**INTRO PLAYS**

All of them, including Pythia, are inside a very large and fancy room, in which dinner is being served on the table. They’re all eating as Pythia takes the seat of the edge of the table (the main one). 

“Excuse me, but  **_how_ ** do you two know each other?”, Eve asks. 

“It’s a long story”, Pythia responds. 

“It is in fact one story I was to tell at the tavern”, Gabrielle says as she eats some peas. “I was saving it for… well… today”

“The point is Gabrielle knew me when I was only **_Iris_ ** . Before I became the Oracle of Delphi”

“Before you were wrapped by the steam of Apollo…”, Petra whispers. 

“Exactly”, Pythia responds. 

“Wait a minute”, Eve asks and she is confused. “If my mother killed most of the gods,  **_how_ ** do you still receive your predictions through Apollo?”

Everyone looks at Pythia, because everyone is curious. 

“I don’t”, she says. “The god is gone, but his power remained. I don’t know any other better way to explain it. But I keep on receiving the predictions”

That answer is enough. 

“I don’t understand…  **_any of this_ ** ”, Gabrielle suddenly says. “Erastus said you could clarify the whole situation, so… by all means… please”

Pythia looks at her with sorrow and breathes. 

“Gabrielle… Do you remember Galathea?”, she asks. 

Gabrielle gets chills all over her spine. 

“Yes”, she responds. 

“ **_She is back._ ** Or rather, she will be back… any time now. And you know… who is the only person who can stop her”

“ **_Xena_ ** ”, her voice is dark. 

“Uhm, who is Galathea?”, Bastian intervenes. “‘Cause she sure sounds like trouble”

“And she is”, Gabrielle looks at him. “For some days, she was the Oracle of Delphi… She got powers through the steam… And Xena and I defeated her”

“The story can be told later”, Pythia continues. 

“So this is why you sent your father to watch me?”, Gabrielle asks, a little nervous. “To make sure he would throw some  **_hints_ ** at me so I remember this… this… invoking spell and bring Xena back?”

“Gabrielle, the world needs Xena”, Pythia says. “The humankind… **_needs_ ** her”

“But why didn’t you just  **_tell me_ ** that?”, Gabrielle gets angry. “Why didn’t you just go to the village, meet me and said ‘Gabrielle, remember that Hel’s invoking spell? Let’s use it to bring Xena back from the dead!’ You waited…  **_for over two months_ ** … for me to remember it. Because I was telling the stories chronologically!”

“Listen to me”, Pythia holds her hand on the table with care. She looks at her deeply. “Xena is dead and that is a fact. But that doesn’t mean you, Gabrielle, are worth any less. You are an incredible person who changed her life, and many other lives. You needed to discover your own value  **_without her_ ** . You needed to know you could go on without her if you had to. And most importantly… You needed to know that you are  **_strong_ ** . Nothing can kill your spirit”

Gabrielle doesn’t have any words. Her eyes are watering and a tear comes rolling through her cheek to drop from her chin. 

“We waited this long to tell you because we could afford it”, Pythia goes on. “We could afford this time. You grieving… You rediscovering life. Making new friends. Creating a new life. I wanted to wait for you recognize your worth, and realize that you, Gabrielle, can go on without her and have a life of abundance, of  **_happiness_ ** again. Time… is a funny thing. A human invention. One thing happens after the other… Until we die. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to follow this straight line to the end. You can restart from  **_any_ ** point in your life”

The words are being taking in by everyone in the room as they eat. Gabrielle is thinking hard. 

“I don’t… I don’t understand”, she says. “Why did Erastus ask me if I had any stories involving mermaids? It has nothing to do with bringing Xena back”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong, my dear”, Erastus says. “If I am correct, the spell does say that Hel can bring a soul back  **_if_ ** she receives gifts that are good enough”

“The mermaid’s tear”, Petra whispers. 

“But do you still have it?”, Bastian asks. 

Gabrielle touches her bracelet.

“Yes”, she responds. 

“Do you think it will be good enough?”, Eve asks. 

“No, not alone”, Pythia replies. “We already have something from a greek creature. Now we need something from a greek **_god_ ** .  **_That_ ** should be enough for her”

“The rod of Asclepius”, Gabrielle whispers and covers her face with her hands. 

“Exactly”, Pythia replies. 

“By the gods”, Petra exclaims. 

“Xena and I swore we would never tell a soul the location of the rod”, Gabrielle sighs. 

“This is for a higher cause”, Pythia says. “Of higher causes you all understand”

Eve nods. 

“Can I see the spell?”, Pythia asks. 

Gabrielle grabs the piece of paper from her bag (that hangs from her chair) and delivers it to the woman, who grabs it and reads it silently to herself. 

“Good thing is we don’t have to travel to the cold lands”, she says when she’s done. “But we need Xena’s ashes, the gifts, and a shamaness”

“The amazons”, Gabrielle replies. 

“And you will need my help”, Pythia complements. “I have mystical powers as well that can be helpful”

“What about the forty thousand souls that are only free now because my mother is dead?”, Eve asks, looking Pythia dead in the eye.

Pythia takes a deep breath. 

“Hel is more powerful than that”, she replies simply. 

“I think we all should rest tonight”, Erastus says. “Tomorrow our journey begins”

“Will you take us to the lake where you and Xena sank the rod of Asclepius?”, Pythia asks Gabrielle. 

Gabrielle looks at her. She seems a little dizzy with all the information and everything that has been going on. 

“Yes”, she nods weakly. 

“Thank you”, Pythia says. “I can’t thank you enough”

Gabrielle only looks at her, but doesn’t say anything. 

***

Next day: some horses with riders run along the lowlands of Greece.

Gabrielle’s voice plays:

“Galathea… She was a hard one. One of the… most insane people Xena and I ever had to deal with. If what the Oracle says and she is returning, you all might need to know her story”

***

Xena and Gabrielle enter a tavern and get close to the balcony to order some food. 

“This place doesn’t seem so bad”, Gabrielle says (she has her hair short). “I mean, it’s way better than the last one in which there was butt grabbing every step of the way”

“And some  **_nose breaking_ ** too”, Xena replies with a smirk. 

“Well, that was on **_you_ ** for being overly protective”, Gabrielle smiles. 

“I am considering tattooing my name on this firm belly of yours. That way there will be no doubt anymore”

“ **_Or_ ** I can just tell people we are together. That would hurt less… for  **_me_ ** ”

“What will you girls have?”, the tavern keeper asks, leaning in to them, from behind the counter. 

“I’ll have some fish soup”, Xena replies and whispers to Gabrielle: “You can’t go wrong with fish soup”

“I’ll have some lamb”, Gabrielle turns to Xena with a daring smile. 

“Coming right up”, the man speaks. 

They both sit by the benches. 

“If you die of diarrhea tomorrow, it’s on you”, Xena tells her. 

“I heard the lambs of Parnassus are good”, Gabrielle replies. 

“Where did you hear that?”

“Along the ride, along the ride…”

“Well, I hope you’re right”, Xena sighs. “Also I hope we manage to eat before someth-”

Suddenly, a woman enters the tavern, and her state is of pure despair. It is  **_Iris_ ** . 

“She’s doing it again!”, she yells at the people in the tavern. “Go and hide your kids!”

“Guess I said it too early”, Xena raises an eyebrow at Gabrielle as the tavern begins to move with despair too. 

The men grab their coats and leave the tavern in a big rush. The women do the same. The tavern keeper begins to put down the drinks and the food, as if he is closing the place. 

“What is happening?”, Gabrielle asks in vain.

She locks eyes with Iris, who looks at her as if she had just seen a ghost and is terrified. Gabrielle doesn’t understand why she is looking at her like that, she’s confused. Xena sees that silent interaction between them both and gets suspicious. Finally, she walks to Iris and puts herself in front of her, blocking Gabrielle’s view. 

“What is the matter here?”, she asks firmly. “ **_Who_ ** is doing  **_what_ ** again?”

Iris seems to be released from her trance. 

“G-... Galathea”, she responds. “The new Oracle of Delphi. She’s… she has been demanding human sacrifices”

“ **_What?_ ** ”, Gabrielle asks as she puts herself beside Xena. 

Iris sees Gabrielle, and seems to make an effort not to let herself be so affected again, so she looks from Gabrielle to Xena and nods. 

“Galathea killed the original Oracle of Delphi, walked through the steam of Apollo… gained powers to combine with her sick, already powerful mind. And proclaimed herself the Oracle of Delphi”, Iris explains. “She was a priestess of Delphi, like me”

“And why don’t you all do something about it?”, Xena asks angrily. “ **_Dethrone her!_ ** ”

“She is too powerful”, Iris has an almost crying face. “Everyone is scared of her. She can make you see and hear things… things that you fear… No one dares to go against her”

“So you’ve been doing human sacrifices?”, Gabrielle asks in disbelief. 

Iris looks down.

“One did happen…”, she says with a regretful voice. “No one could stop it. An innocent man died”

“Excuse me, ladies”, the tavern keeper approaches. “Get out of here. I’m closing”

“So that’s a no for that fish soup, huh?”, Xena asks him. 

“You can find more fish in the market. Now go”

They all leave the tavern and are now outside. Gabrielle looks up at the sky and sees some birds flying around, birds the same breed as Erastus’ one, Remy. 

“You have to help us”, Iris begs Xena. “You  **_are_ ** Xena, aren’t you?”

Xena and Gabrielle share a look. 

“Yes, I am”, she replies. 

“How did she kill the last Oracle of Delphi?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Yeah. Didn’t she see it coming?”, Xena completes in an awful joke. 

“Only certain people can go through the steam of Apollo…”, Iris begins as they start to walk. “People, women, that have… visions. In the beginning they’re blurred and random, but once you cross the steam, they become clear as the waters of Zakynthos. Galathea thought she had visions, when clearly what she has are perverted, sick, atrocious images of murder and madness that come from her insane mind. There was a rumour that she would leave the priestess life behind and start a new life as a xamaness… However, while all of us were sleeping in a dark, dark night, Galathea walked to the Oracle’s chambers… and as she slept, she cut her throat, and killed her. Still covered in spatter of her blood, she walked to the steam room… from which the steam comes out, flaming from the floor, from a rift on the ground… and crossed it. She was swallowed by the steam. And her heinous powers were greatly enhanced”

Xena and Gabrielle are listening with much attention as they walk rapidly. 

“Ever since, she has occupied the place of the Oracle, declaring herself as the Oracle of Delphi, and making the most morbid requests”, Iris goes on. “She announced every new born child should be bathed in creamy mud, and if they can resurface by themselves, they get to live. Otherwise they should die”

“What in Tartarus…”, Gabrielle mumbles, not believing this crazy scenario. 

“And the worst thing is: some people follow her blindly. They say finally the tradition is being kept alive”, Iris continues. “She **_needs_ ** to be taken down”

“I never thought the Oracle of Delphi had this much influence over  **_the people_ ** ”, Xena speaks. “I thought only philosophers and generals consulted with her”

“Everyone always listens to the Oracle”, Iris says in a grave tone. “Throughout the world she is known for giving advice for celebrities and telling their future. But here, truth is she is basically the ruler of the land. She knows when the drought is coming, when the rains are coming. The storms, the huge waves. She always knows best, and we all listen to her with our hearts open. Or rather… we  **_did_ ** ”

“Who are you?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“My name is Iris”, she replies. “Yours is Gabrielle. Please, you two are the only people with enough courage and technique to defeat her”

“Yes”, Xena’s eyes become dark. “That is a woman who needs to be put down”

Gabrielle just looks at her.

***

Xena, Gabrielle and Iris enter a very simple house. They look around.

“Where are we?”, Xena asks. 

“My house”, Iris responds. “Or rather, my old house, from when I lived here before becoming a priestess of Delphi. Now only my father lives here. He’s never home, though, he’s always out. He’s a healer, you know. Some even say he’s a wizard”

***

Present time: Gabrielle, Erastus, Eve, Pythia, her guards, Petra and Bastian are settling camp in the woods as the sun goes down. Gabrielle, who’s taking care of the fireplace, speaks to Erastus, who’s spreading his blanket on the ground. 

“Isn’t it insane?”, she speaks to him. “Xena and I were at your house, and we never met you”

He smiles at her. 

“It’s going to get  **_even more_ ** insane”, he replies.

The others, who are paying close attention, but still performing their duties, look at them.

***

“I’m sorry, but shouldn’t we be stopping a sacrifice from happening right now?”, Gabrielle asks, turning her head from Xena to Iris. “What are we even doing here?”

“The sacrifices only happen at night”, Iris replies. “We have time. We need to come up with a plan to stop her”

“Well, how about we go to the temple and kick her ass?”, Xena asks as she grabs a glass sphere from the table and analyses it. 

“No”, Iris says. “She’ll… get inside your minds!”

“What do you suggest?”, Gabrielle asks her. 

Iris sighs, feeling a little defeated. If only those two warriors knew what was going on inside her. 

“I think I should go back and pretend I am a faithful priestess”, she says. 

“And us?”, Gabrielle asks.

They can see the fear inside Iris’ eyes. 

“I know you’ll come up with something”, she replies. 

“Well, aren’t you  **_reliable_ ** ”, Xena snaps. 

“You’re just going to leave us like this?!”, Gabrielle asks without belief. 

“Forget about it, Gabrielle”, Xena says with judging eyes to Iris. “There’s nothing else she can do”

“I-... I’m sorry”, Iris is almost crying. She rushes out of the door and leaves both of them there alone at her father’s house. 

Gabrielle sighs and runs a hand over her forehead. 

“Now what?”, she asks. 

“I think we need to know more about this Galathea figure”, Xena says as she walks inside the room to analyse all of the objects that are there like a curious cat. “Walk around… ask the right people… What we know is that she seems like a psychopath from birth, who wants to spread a new reign of terror. Alti was like that. Alti also had powers…”

“Yes”, Gabrielle agrees. “She didn’t play with our minds, but with the past… and the  **_future_ ** ”

“From what Iris told us, she has new kinds of powers this one”, Xena grabs a vase of plant and brings it to her nose for her to smell it. “You can’t mess with the steam of Apollo”

“The steam is still alive even though the god is not?”, Gabrielle asks. 

Xena takes a leaf from that little plant on the vase and puts it inside her armour. 

“The gods and the powers that they have are two separate things”, Xena replies. “If one vanishes, the other doesn’t have to do the same necessarily. Things are just transformed”

“So you’re saying that… nothing is lost, nothing is created, but everything is transformed?”, Gabrielle asks.

“Exactly”

“Huh. That’s a good one. I might take note of this”

“As you wish. Good luck proving it though”, Xena smirks. “C’mon, let’s go”

***

Xena and Gabrielle are walking in the village, amongst the villagers. We can see that whenever they stop and ask someone about Galathea, they get scared and walk away. This is being useless. 

“No one is willing to tell us”, Gabrielle shakes her head. 

“I know”, Xena rests her hands on her waist and looks around; the eyes squinted due to the sun. “These people are terrified, but also they won’t leave. That’s another level of fear”

“There she is!”, a man yells.

Xena and Gabrielle turn around to see: about twenty guards come running with their spears and swords towards them.

“Get Xena!”, another one screams. 

“We have company”, Xena says as she unsheathes her sword from her back. 

Gabrielle bends over for a second to grab her sai from her boots. 

They are ready to fight. And they do. 

Some men don’t stand a chance against Gabrielle and Xena, but they never stop coming. The two female warriors get punched and kicked, they’re very outnumbered. 

“They… are… too many…!”, Gabrielle says. 

“Don’t kill her!”, one man screams to the others. “She wants Xena alive!”

“Oh, she wants me alive?”, Xena stops fighting and sheathes back her sword. “By all means, take me to her”

“ **_Xena!!!_ ** ”, Gabrielle yells in surprise, but doesn’t lower her guard.

The men grab Xena and go pushing her forward. 

“I’ll go and meet our friend”, Xena says to Gabrielle as she is being taken away. “You keep doing what we were doing. See you tonight”

Gabrielle just watches in awe as the guards take Xena away and she is left alone in the middle of the market. 

A very shy man approaches Gabrielle. He is around 60-something years old. He touches her shoulder and she turns to see him. 

“I-I’m sorry…”, he begins. “But I saw you and your friend were asking around about… about Galathea?”

“Yes”, Gabrielle is immediately attracted to this conversation. 

“I believe I can help”, he says.

“Who are you?”, she asks.

“I’m her father”

***

Xena enters the temple of Apollo being manhandled, the place where the Oracle of Delphi stays. It is beautiful, full of priests and priestesses, images, incenses, paintings on the walls, sculptures. It was a place full of life, but now barely any light comes in, and torches are lit up even though it is day time. Xena has her hands tied behind her back and is unarmed. Her sword and her chakram were taken away from her. 

Finally they stop when they reach some kind of hall that ends with a golden throne, in which  **_Galathea_ ** sits. She’s a woman of sharp angles and penetrating look. She smiles when she sees Xena and stands up to take two steps forward. There is another woman, a priestess, standing next to the throne; she’s Galathea’s personal servant. 

“You all succeeded to bring me Xena”, she says. “Points for you. I honestly thought I’d have to kill all of you for failing. And your families”

“She surrendered”, one of the guards says. 

“Oh”, Galathea’s expression is of obviousness. “So that’s why you got her. Well, congratulations for being still alive. Xena, the destroyer of nations, had pity on you”

The men get a little embarrassed.

“I am  **_not_ ** the destroyer of nations”, Xena replies. “But I did want to see what the  **_new_ ** destroyer of nations looks like. And to be honest, I expected you to be taller”

Galathea laughs and claps, which Xena thinks is weird.

“Your sense of humor is marvelous”, she says. “You know, I have to demonstrate power. If I keep killing peasants, I’m just another warlord. But if I kill  **_a warlord_ ** … Then I’ll have greater respect”

“Well, I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention to the last… 28 years or something, but I am not a warlord anymore”, Xena replies. 

“No”, Galathea’s face gets serious. “But you are **_Xena_ ** ”

“So I’ll be tonight’s sacrifice”

“Oh no, not tonight’s… I already chose a poor soul for that.  **_Tomorrow_ ** is your turn to go”

“Really?”, Xena sounds disappointed. “I was really expecting to go tonight”

“Be patient”, Galathea smiles. “I know how you’ve been living aimlessly your whole life, being saved from the darkness by that blonde friend of yours, Gabrielle. But don’t you ever wonder if she’s tired of having to deal with your dark side?”

Xena’s face becomes hard as a rock. 

“Seems like I hit a weak spot, huh?”, Galathea goes on, and she walks to get closer to Xena with her superior pose. 

“You know nothing”, Xena replies.

“And what are your famous adventures other than to travel around the world, trying to redeem yourself with the help of Gabrielle? How many times have you fallen back to darkness? How many times have you disappointed her and yourself? I really wonder where you would be now if it weren’t for her”

“Probably dead”, Xena says. 

“Dead is right”, Galathea goes on. “But not by someone else’s hands”

Xena’s face grows darker. 

“Oh, yes, Xena, I see you. I see inside of you. I know what you were about to do before Gabrielle came along”

Xena thinks back to her past, of when she was burying her armour and weapons and feeling conflicted. But then, a bunch of women were being harassed by men, and she saved them. 

“The first time she saved you, she wasn’t even aware of that”, Galathea continues. “Such an innocent girl, with her life arranged. About to marry a kind man. Born into a loving family who loved her very much. What **_you_ ** wonder often is… How happy would Gabrielle be if you never crossed paths with her?”

Xena is silent. 

“I can tell you… She would be very happy now. With grandchildren, three of them. She’s their favorite grandmother. She cooks has a big farm of animals. Never stopped writing. She writes of the adventures of the characters she herself made up and her stories are famous. She is happy”

A small tear comes down from Xena’s eye. 

Galathea smiles. 

“Take her to the dungeons”

The guards grab her and drag her away. 

Galathea watches as she is taken away with a smile on her lips. She walks back to her throne and looks at the priestess. 

“Go prepare me a bath”, she orders. 

The priestess nods and begins to walk away, but Galathea stops her by holding her wrist gently.

“Be sure to be in it by the time I get there”, she completes, and kisses her cheek slowly. 

The priestess smiles at her, nods and walks away. 

***

Gabrielle is sitting by a chair in front of a table inside a very humble house. She has a mug of tea on her hand and is blowing it for it to cool down before she drinks it. Across from her is sitting that man that claimed to be Galathea’s father. They’re at his house. 

“Ever since she was a child, she was troubled…”, the man begins with a heavy voice and dark eyes of memories he’d rather forget. He also has a mug of tea in front of him, and steam comes out of it. “When she was just a little girl, we got her a cat. A stray cat that kept walking here and there on the street. We could see it had no owner and it was young so we got it and gave it to her. When I say ‘we’ I mean my passed wife and I”

“I’m sorry to hear”, Gabrielle says. 

“It’s fine, it’s been… long time ago”, the man clears his throat. “Galathea loved the cat, she played with him all the time, wouldn’t give him a break. One day I came home from work, I was a bricklayer when I was strong enough… I came back and saw no signal of the cat. But Galathea was playing with something. When I got closer, I saw that… she had killed the cat, cut off his head and speared it with sticks so she could still play with it as her  **_doll_ ** ”

Gabrielle almost vomits as she drinks the tea. Her face is of pure surprise, disgust and sadness. 

“My wife hadn’t seen it, she was cooking, she wasn’t paying attention”, he continues. “Galathea turns to me and says… ‘dad, look, the cat is behaved now’. I looked at her with utter terror… yelled for my wife, who screamed when she saw all the blood. We tried to get philosophers to help her, to talk to her and find out what was wrong with her. Because we know something was wrong. That wasn’t the first time she did something like that,  **_or_ ** the last, let me add. One of her boyfriends, later on, died unexpectedly… And some other deaths were assigned to her. They said she had the evil inside her. That she didn’t think like everyone else… That she heard voices and saw images, created by herself, that gave her the wrong notion of what is right and what is wrong. What is good and what is evil. We also tried to send her to a kind of… school… or something, to a place, in which they said they could treat her. She stayed there until her adult years, when she finally came back home to us, supposedly healed”

Gabrielle is listening with attention. She drinks her tea occasionally. 

“You see…”, the man divagues. “She never had a motivation… she never had a  **_reason_ ** to be evil. She just  **_is_ ** , and always has been. When she came to us, we welcomed her with our arms opened. She was another person, a little woman. Smiley, happy. She joined the Oracle of Delphi priests and priestess and quickly became one. We got so happy she got a job that she loved. We thought everything was fine… Until one day my wife died suddenly. Suddenly. The healers say something was wrong with her blood, but I knew it, and I saw inside Galathea’s eyes, that she had poisoned her”

Gabrielle’s face was still, but full of sorrow, as she drinks her tea. 

“Did you confront her about that?”, she asks. 

“I did”, he answers. “And she said she would never kill her own mother. But look now”, he raises his hands to the air. “She’s a tyrant, a murderer. I don’t doubt she did it”

“She killed Pythia…”, Gabrielle whispers. 

The man nods. 

“And took her place”, he completes. “You see, something happened when she crossed the magical steams of Apollo… Her madness was enhanced. Her crazy thoughts came to pass. They became reality. So everyone believes her when she predicts something, because she usually is right. And for that, she has the utmost power. She controls the land…”

“Didn’t anyone try to fight her?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“They did”, he replies. “They failed… And died. Now she has basically an army protecting her temple. The men volunteer to guard her and the temple. She installed her power with acumen, I give it to her… definitely inherited it from her mother”

The man finishes his tea. 

Gabrielle reaches for his hand and looks at him with complicity and sorrow. 

“I am really sorry for your wife… and for what became of your daughter”, she says. “I’ve seen it before. Sometimes people have illnesses that cannot be cured by any medication or healer. They’re  **_spiritual_ ** diseases”

The man shrugs. 

“I’ve given up hope a long time ago, Gabrielle”, he says with a weak voice. He seems tired. “On her, I mean, on Galathea. But not on other people. Which is why I try to save as many as I can. There is an orphanage nearby… And whenever she demands sacrifices, I run to that place and tell them to lock the whole place with the heaviest locks they have. Thank the gods her guards always pass by”

“This… this is  **_insane_ ** , Monro”, Gabrielle says. “Galathea seems untouchable and now she has Xena… How can I ever get her back?”

“There is no hope for your friend”, he says. “She’s lost. She’ll die”

“You might have lost hope, but I haven’t”, Gabrielle says firmly. “And I won’t give up on Xena. I will find a way to save her, as I have done so many times before”

Gabrielle gets up of the chair.

“Thank you for the tea and for the information”, she speaks. 

“May the remaining gods have pity on your soul”, Monro answers. 

Gabrielle breathes heavily, looks at him, and she feels many things for him. He is an old man, still holding the empty mug just to feel the heat of the clay. His eyes are pretty much dead and his hands sometimes shake with the old age. He is a lost soul. She wants to do more for him, she wishes she could help. With a sigh, she turns her back to him and leaves the house. 

***

Xena is sitting in her cell. She is alone, it is dark and wet; drops of water can be heard. There is a torch outside her cell, and a corridor with more cells, filled with people, who are also silent. 

She is thinking about the words Galathea told her. About Gabrielle. She seems sad, holding her knees to her chest as a little child. Galathea’s words echo inside her mind as she stares aimlessly beyond the bars. 

Now she thinks of all the times in which Gabrielle saved her from the darkness, and from the sins of her past who caught up with her. When she went to the Shark Island Prison. When she betrayed her in order to save Lao Ma’s son. Grinhild. The furies. 

“Almost everything that happened to us was because of me”, she mumbles and her eyes are teared. 

“ _ Pssst _ ”, she hears. 

Xena looks around, but sees no one.

“Here!! Pssst!”, the voice again. 

Xena drags herself to the left wall and sees a little hole there. There is someone in the cell next to her who is looking at her through that hole. 

“What do you want?”, Xena asks with her heavy voice. 

“I want to talk!”, the voice replies, it is a man’s voice. “My names is Aron. What’s yours?”

“Xena”, she says. 

“So, Xena, why are you here for?”, he asks. “Maybe you went to pick up some flowers at the temple’s garden and was arrested? Maybe you spelled Galathea’s name wrong? Or **_maybe_ ** , maybe you spilled some water at one of the guards accidentally”

“Is that why  **_you_ ** are here?”, she asks. 

“No”, he replies. “I’m here because I tried to kill Galathea”

“I’m only sorry you didn’t succeed, pal”

“Me too. I should have waited for her to fall asleep. I was a priest, you know. The darn best one. I knew all the prayers, took care of all the plants, cleaned this damn temple, taught the other priests and priestess how to do everything. And was thrown here”

“You sound too young to be a priest”

“As long as you’re faithful enough and get the job done, there’s no age limit”, he replies. 

“Good for you”, she says.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here”

Xena sighs. 

“I’m here because I’m finally paying for my sins”

“No offense, ma’am, but it sounds like you’ve been paying for your sins for a long time”

“Only inside my mind”, she replies. “And my spirit”

“And how’s that not valid?”

Xena doesn’t answer. 

***

Present. 

Gabrielle, Bastian, Eve, Petra, Iris (and her guards) and Erastus are stopping by a village; their horses are already on a stable and they’re walking around buying some food and stuff. 

“That must have been harsh for Xena”, Bastian says to Gabrielle, because he is near her. “Ya’know, having to pay for her sins… forever”

“It was the heaviest burden of her life”, Gabrielle replies with a nod. “Or maybe… the second heaviest. I’m pretty sure she felt worse when I got hurt because of her”

“I see”, Bastian continues as they walk around the street market. “And… You think we can bring her back?”

“Who knows”, Gabrielle says. “Erastus thinks we can. Iris does too. Who am I to know more than the Oracle of Delphi… But there is one thing that worries me”

“What?”

“Xena died under circumstances that made sure she had to remain dead, as Erastus said. I had the chance to bring her back, but if I did, she would have condemned forty thousand souls to eternal suffering… Now I fear for those souls. I hope they remain in peace”

“I think Erastus and Pythia wouldn’t want to bring Xena back if it weren’t more important than forty thousand souls”, Bastian says. “It’s **_Xena_ ** I’m worried about”

Gabrielle looks at him puzzled.

“Xena?”

“Yes”, he replies. “What if she is resting in peace now, finally, after all those years of paying for her sins… What if she finally paid… And now she’s brought back to life and has to deal with it all over again. Ya’know?”

Gabrielle is silent as she thinks deeply about it. 

“Whatever this Galathea is capable of… Seems to be more important than Xena’s peace”, Bastian says. 

“I… hadn’t thought about that”, Gabrielle admits. 

Bastian shrugs. 

“Well… It’s just a thought. Maybe she’ll wake up here and feel like she already paid for her sins. Who knows”

“Yes”, Gabrielle looks mysteriously at Iris across the market. “Who knows”

***

Gabrielle walks around the temple, pretending she is just a tourist or just a regular person walking by. The temple is located in a mount; it is big, tall, guarded by many armed men who look around trying to find anything suspicious. That’s why Gabrielle needs to be extra careful. 

She sees the entrances… how the priests come in and out of the temple. She pretends to grab an apple from a merchant and ask him its price when a guard comes to walk near her. 

“What’s the price of this apple?”, she asks him. 

“Ah, that would be a piece of copper”, he replies.

“A piece of copper?”, she answers. “Do I look like a miner to you?”

“I could use some copper in any shape”, he shrugs. 

Gabrielle returns the apple to his basket full of other apples. 

She catches a glimpse of that woman, Iris, talking to a man, another priest, right outside the temple. It looks like they’re having a disagreement, a discussion even. The man, who’s older than her, says some harsh things and walks away, leaving her there, sad. 

Gabrielle walks to her trying not to look suspicious. 

“Iris”, she calls her. 

“Gabrielle, by Apollo, I cannot be seen with you”, Iris gets desperate and grabs Gabrielle by her arm. “Come with me”

***

Iris takes her inside the temple - for her amusement. 

“Are we…”, Gabrielle begins as she looks around. 

“Inside the temple, in my bedchambers, yes”, Iris replies. “No one enters here”

“What about all those people who just saw me getting in here?”, Gabrielle asks, nervous.

“They don’t care, they all have lovers of their own”

Gabrielle’s face is of surprise.

“But you’re a  **_priestess_ ** …”

“So?”, Iris raises her eyebrow. 

Gabrielle shakes her head.

“Never mind”

“What do you want?”, Iris asks. 

“What do you think?! Since I am here I might as well rescue Xena! Do you know where she is?”

“In the dungeons”, Iris replies. “But you cannot go there”

“Why not?”

“Because it is heavily guarded”, Iris sits on her bed. “Listen, I have a plan to take Galathea down”

“Tell me”, Gabrielle approaches her. 

“My father is a wizard… or some say he is. He’s powerful and he worked here in the temple for many years”, she says. “He kept the steam of Apollo alive. And to do that… he had to go through it. But he never got affected by it. I always wondered if it was because he already had powers… or so I thought… but now that I see that Galathea had powers too and they were enhanced… I think… maybe my father had a way to be unaffected by it”

“You think he wasn’t affected because his powers never grew?”, Gabrielle asks. 

“Yes”, Iris answers. “And maybe, whatever he used to be immune to the steam… may be used to stop Galathea”

“When can you meet with your father?”

“I was actually leaving to do so right now”

“Well… then… go!”

“Only if you promise you won’t leave my bedchambers”

Gabrielle rolls her eyes. 

“Gabrielle, seriously, it is dangerous here”, Iris tells her. “There is a guard in each corner and if they see someone wondering around who’s not accompanied by a priest or a priestess… They’ll throw you in the dungeons or worse”

Gabrielle sighs. 

“I’ll be careful”, she says. 

“No. Promise me you won’t leave here. I’ll be back in one hour tops with my father’s secret”

“Okay. I promise”

Iris looks at her for a while longer, gets up and walks by Gabrielle towards the door. She opens the door, looks at Gabrielle again, and says:

“Stay here”

And exits, closing the door behind her. 

Gabrielle sighs again and sits down by Iris’ bed. She faces the ceiling. There are some drawings there, and some carvings; it’s very beautiful. It tells the story of the god Apollo and Daphne: of how the Cupid hit him with the arrow of love and hit Daphne with the arrow of rejection. How the god stalked the woman to the point in which she had to beg her father, a god also, to turn her into a tree so she could get rid of Apollo. And so he did, and she became a laurel tree. Still… Apollo kept her to himself even like that. 

“Those crazy gods…”, Gabrielle whispers to herself. 

***

Xena is laying down on the floor of her cell; she is facing a very different and dark kind of ceiling. 

Someone pushes a tray underneath the bars of her cell with a plate of soup and a cup of water. Xena looks and sees it is the priestess that was beside Galathea when she saw her. Her lover. 

“Hey, hey, hey”, Xena gets up immediately and runs to the bars, to get close to that woman. “You’re a priestess, right? Galathea’s servant?”

The woman stops and looks at Xena. She’s pretty, but has a hard expression. 

“Yes”, she whispers, as if she is scared of getting caught talking to a prisoner. 

“But you **_know_ ** she’s evil, right?”, Xena goes on. “Asking for human sacrifices. You have a sister? Brother?”

“I have a brother”

“Well alright. Imagine if your brother was to be sacrificed. You wouldn’t like that, would ya?”

“Of course not”

“So why the Tartarus do you serve her?”

“No one has any other choice here, in case you didn’t realize”, her answer is sharp.

“Oh but you do”, Xena says with a smile. “You can choose to release me and I’ll end Galathea’s reign”

The woman approaches the bar with curiosity.

“How?”, she asks. 

“I have many skills”, Xena replies. “I’m a warrior, a fighter. I can end her”

The woman shakes her head. 

“You don’t understand. She can’t be beaten through a fight or a battle. Her war is with your mind”

“My mind is powerful too”

Now the woman seems really interested.

“It is?”, she asks. 

Xena nods. 

“More than you know”, she replies. 

The woman is hesitant. 

“What’s your name?”, Xena asks. 

“Phoebe”

“Phoebe… Let me prove it to you I can take her”

“No…”, Phoebe says. “Let  **_me_ ** prove it to you that you **_cannot_ ** take her”

She takes a big key from underneath her smock and unlocks Xena’s cell. Xena is hesitant to get out. She steps out of the cell and looks around; there’s no one on the corridor. No guards, anyone. 

“Is this some kind of trap?”, Xena asks, suspicious. 

“I am only offering you a way out, a way to defeat Galathea”, Phoebe says. 

Xena narrows her eyes, doesn’t say anything more and starts running.

...But she faces Galathea as soon as she makes a turn left. She stops running and stares. 

“Going somewhere?”, Galathea asks. Yes, Xena knows it was a trap. 

“I’m taking you down”, Xena exclaims with anger, and yells as she starts running towards Galathea with blood in her eyes (manner of speech).

But Galathea disappears, and instead of her there is an old woman, curved, with green shiny eyes. Xena stops and looks at her, puzzled. 

“Xena?”, the woman says, recognizing her. “You’re the warrior princess?”

“Y-yes”, she replies but looks around in search for Galathea. “Where are you??? Daughter of a bacchae!!!”

“I heard of your deeds”, the old woman speaks again. “You were my inspiration… I created a character for my stories based on you. Perhaps you’ve heard of my stories? Hulda, the warrior?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing, Galathea, but I can tell: you’re afraid of facing me, aren’t ya?”, Xena smiles, still looking around and ignoring the old woman.

“No?”, the old woman says. “Perhaps you know me by my name. I’m Gabrielle, the scroll writer”

Xena stops and looks at her. Old Gabrielle smiles. 

“So you’ve heard of me, huh? I’m flattered, really. I mean, the deeds of my heroin can’t even be compared to yours. You really came around in life, and I’m proud of you”

“Stop this”, Xena whispers. “Did you hear, Galathea?  **_Stop this!_ ** ”, she’s yelling now. 

Old Gabrielle smiles evilly at her. She begins transforming her own body… she becomes tall and great; dark and has red eyes. She becomes a monster. A very ugly one. Xena gets ready to fight it, but she is unarmed, so she only has her fists. 

The monster’s head even touch the high ceiling, and his bright red eyes become bigger. Xena looks into his eyes and gets hypnotized. This is noticeable because she loses her fighter posture and opens her mouth. Her eyes soon become filled with tears and after a while she falls down to her knees, holding her head and letting out a painful scream. As if someone is hurting her really badly. Hurting her head. 

***

Present time. 

Gabrielle, Bastian, Eve, Petra, Erastus, Iris and the two guards are sitting around a fireplace inside a small house. They’re all listening to Gabrielle’s story.

“What did she see inside the monster’s eyes?”, Eve asks. 

Gabrielle and Iris share a look, but Iris looks away, as if she knows what she saw but won’t say it. Gabrielle only sighs. 

“I don’t know”, she answers. “She never told me…”

Eve shifts uncomfortably and gets closer to Petra, who places a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“How far are we from the lake anyway?”, Bastian breaks the ice. 

“We will get there by tomorrow afternoon already”, Gabrielle replies. “We’re rather close”

“Also, good news: tomorrow will be sunny”, Erastus says with a light voice. 

“How can you tell?”, Petra asks him.

He turns to her. 

“Don’t you know I’m a wizard?”, he replies. “No… Actually I saw the sky and it is full of shiny stars”

Everyone laughs a little bit. Pythia/Iris looks at him with so much love. 

“May I have a word with you… father?”, she says. 

He looks at her puzzled, but nods and begins to get up. She follows him and they go outside. Turns out they were inside a little house in that same village. Now they’re outside. The guards wait by the door; they always have Pythia on their sight. 

“What is it?”, Erastus asks as he fondles Remy on his shoulder. 

“Nothing specific”, she says, a little apprehensive. “I just… I realized I never thanked you for helping us with Galathea the first time”

“Oh”, Erastus exclaims. “You’re welcome. She needed - and needs - to be stopped. I’m only sorry I cannot produce more of the serum…”

“It’s fine, you did enough. Your work kept her tamed for almost two years”

“Yes… But who’d have guessed she is even darker now…”

“No one could have noticed her powers were still growing”

A moment of silence. 

“I also called you because I wanted to say…”, Iris goes on. “I’m sorry I wasn’t present since I became the Oracle of Delphi…”

“Oh, no, that’s, that’s fine…”, Erastus seemed a little shy, suddenly. 

“We were close, father. Then I was called… I was chosen. Deep down we always knew it was my fate to become the Oracle, due to my visions from early childhood… But when the time came, I distanced myself from you. And I am not sure why I did it”

Erastus has some tears in his eyes. 

“You have a duty. Nothing can come in the way of that. I understand”, he says. 

She takes his hand and looks at him with kindness. 

“You were always very understanding”, she speaks. “I love you, father”

He is taken aback by that. Erastus looks surprised and at the same time suspicious. 

“I love you too, Iris”

And they hug each other, it’s a sentimental moment. 

“Are you going to tell Gabrielle about your vision?”, he asks her when they slowly pull apart. 

“If we can bring Xena back, there’s no reason to tell her. It won’t come to pass”

He sighs. 

“Galathea would really kill many, many people, wouldn’t she?”

Iris nods. 

“She would. More than one can count. You remember how it was like last time”

“Sadly I do, with clarity. But if I might ask… What does Xena have that no one else has?”

Iris looks deeply at him. 

“Gabrielle”

This is a very ambiguous answer, and Erastus doesn’t understand well, but he decides not to ask further. 

***

Back to Gabrielle’s story. 

It gets dark.

She’s inside Iris’ chambers. She can’t take it anymore, so she gets up, opens the door and leaves, making sure no one is seeing her. She has a damn sacrifice to stop right now. 

She walks around in the temple, always avoiding being seen by the guards and the priests/priestesses. But basically there’s no one there. 

Suddenly, she hears a commotion, and follows the sound. 

Gabrielle reaches an open space, that looks like a coliseum, in which the whole city is gathered - some against their will, some are very into it - and Pythia, or Galathea, is on the center of it, alongside with her guards. Torches are lit up everywhere. Three guards are holding a very old man, an innocent man, who’s very scared. 

“Tonight we sacrifice one of the many who are too invalid to serve this society”, Galathea speaks up and everyone is quiet to listen to her. “If he is not sacrificed, the wrath of nature shall fall upon us under the shape of a rain of flames”

The crowd whisper in fear of what she is saying. 

“The Oracle of Delphi commands… the death of this man by hanging”, she speaks again, and the old man begins to cry. 

***

Xena is inside her cell, rocking back and forth like a crazy person with wide eyes. 

“That was not real, it was not real…”, she keeps repeating. 

Suddenly, a metallic noise wakes her up from that trance.  **_A key_ ** was thrown in front of her by someone who she can’t see because that someone is already going away, so she only sees his shadow. 

“Time to fight”, a man’s voice, Erastus’, says, as he walks away.

Xena quickly grabs the key and opens her cell. She sees there’s no one there taking care of the prisoners. Fast as an eagle, she runs away. She’ll come back for the prisoners later, but first she needs to get her weapons. 

By the exit of the dungeons, she sees them, and grabs her chakram, her sword and her little dagger. 

She has a sacrifice to stop.

***

Gabrielle positions herself. She has no idea what her plan will be like, but she is close by, behind Galathea and her guards, by the stage. 

“Iris, where are you…”

All of a sudden, she spots her. Iris is walking like a priestess close to Galathea… her hands are behind her back, and she is holding a piece of fabric there. 

On the meantime, the old man has a rope positioned around his neck by the guards as the crowd watches. It is an execution. Galathea is smiling. 

“Oracle…”, Iris says when she is very close to Galathea.

Galathea turns to her and Iris makes an abrupt movement in which she was going to place the fabric over Galathea’s mouth, but she stops mid-air as Galathea’s eyes turn red and completely taken. Iris cannot move. 

“What were you about to do, silly?”, Galathea asks, and her voice sounds squeaky like a psychopath. 

Iris will speak but she has no voice. 

Galathea grabs the fabric out of her hand.

“What did you pour over this piece of fabric, Iris?”, she asks.

Right when she asks that, Xena appears from the back of the crowd. She prepares her chakram and throws it with a grunt at Galathea. Before it hits her, it stops in the air… suspended… by nothing. Galathea looks at her, looks at the chakram about one centimeter from her neck. Her eyes are still red. 

“Is this a conspiracy?”, she asks. “I don’t have time for a conspiracy”

She seems very enraged, and lets out a loud scream. With that scream, invisible waves emanate from her body and reach everyone there. Every single person. Xena, Gabrielle, Iris, the guards, the old man, the crowd, the priest, the priestess. Their eyes turn white as clouds and their faces get contorted with fear. They all begin to scream and hold their heads. 

Each one is seeing a different thing, a different fear, a different monster. They all see their own personal fears and monsters. They’re all suffering and in pain. Gabrielle falls to her knees holding her head as she screams loudly. 

Screams of pain and “stop, please” fill the place. It sounds like a horror show. 

Even Xena is falling… her nose is bleeding, and her ears. 

Everyone starts to bleed through their noses.

Xena tries to fight it and she slowly begins to walk towards the stage where Galathea is. She takes slow steps, struggling with what she is seeing in front of her, inside her head… She tries to punch it but she can’t. She tries to dodge its sight but it is huge. 

Gabrielle is on the floor, curled up, crying and yelling. 

Some people fall down, unconscious. 

Xena finally gets to the stage. Galathea is in her trance, with her red eyes and open mouth, still emanating the waves that are turning people crazy. 

Xena climbs the stage, rolls on the floor… With pain, almost dying, almost falling down, her face bloody… she pulls the fabric out of Galathea’s hand and with a scream she shoves it inside her mouth. 

Galathea chokes and coughs as she tries to breathe. She pulls the fabric out of her mouth and throws it on the floor. But by the time she does that, her eyes are not red anymore, she’s super scared, and her “spell” is broken. 

Everyone falls down, the crowd, the guards, everyone except Xena.

“What did you do…?”, Galathea asks as she begins to choke harder, struggles to breathe and falls down, paralyzed. She cannot move. 

Xena rushes to Gabrielle how she can. She kneels beside her and touches her face.

“G-Gabrielle…?”

Gabrielle opens her eyes, which spill tears of blood, but she is alive. 

“X… Xena…”, she replies weakly. 

Iris opens her eyes and coughs blood. 

Some people in the crowd do the same… but more than half of it remain lying down. They’re all dead. 

Screams of despair take over. Mothers holding their dead sons, dead parents… No one could tell what is worse… the screams of pain of when Galathea let her power loose over them, or their screams of pain  **_now_ ** . Maybe they are the same. 

Xena and Gabrielle look at all of them. They see some guards that don’t get up… most of the people are down.

“She…  **_she killed them_ ** …”, Gabrielle says. 

“I need to finish this”, Xena replies.

Feeling slightly better, Xena cleans the blood of her nose with the back of her hand and gets up, still weak. She walks to where Galathea is lying down, grabs her chakram from the ground, and when she is about to kill her, a man from the crowd yells: “NO!”, and she stops.

The old man weakly climbs the stage, saying:

“No, please… please don’t kill her…”, he has blood from his nose and ears as well.

“And why shouldn’t I?”, Xena asks with rage. 

“Because… she is… all I have left…”, the man replies.

“Monro?”, Gabrielle says as she approaches. “Xena, he’s… Galathea’s father”

Xena immediately lowers her chakram. 

“I know she is a monster and I know what she did…”, Monro continues as he cries. “But she is still my daughter… And I love her… Please… Please don’t kill her…”

“Your daughter killed over two hundred people just now”, Xena replies angrily. “She needs to be gone”

Monro lowers his head, crying, accepting the fact that his daughter will die. 

“Xena…”, Gabrielle speaks. 

“Do you know any other way, Gabrielle?”, Xena asks her. “Do you know  **_any other way_ ** to stop her?”

“She doesn’t have to die”, Iris says as she gets close. “This… this piece of fabric was soaked in a magical plant serum that my father made… it can keep her paralyzed. We can keep her like this…”

“Forever?”, Xena asks. “We might as well kill her”, she places her chakram on her waist and grabs her sword from her back to scratch Galathea’s neck with it. 

“Please…”, Monro asks again.

Xena looks at him and swallows. She takes pity on him. 

“I’ll make sure she never wakes up”, Monro says. “I promise… I promise…”

Xena looks at Gabrielle and Iris. She sheathes her sword. 

“Thank you, thank you so much”, Monro speaks and he goes to Galathea, he kneels beside her and caresses her face. “My beautiful daughter… What became of you… I’ll take care of you now… Like I should have done before…”

Iris approaches Monro. 

“I’ll make sure my father meets you”, she says. “And delivers the serum periodically”

“Thank you”, he whispers between sobs. 

“Let’s get out of here”, Xena says to Gabrielle as she begins to walk away. “Let’s go as far as possible from here”

Gabrielle follows her, puzzled by the fact that Xena still seems very enraged. 

***

“You were the one who gave Xena the key of the cell”, Gabrielle says to Erastus. They are all paddling… they’re on a small boat made of wood, paddling to reach the center of the lake. The two guards that accompany Pythia stayed at the lakeside. 

Erastus nods. 

“After you two left, Monro took Galathea to his house… and my father made the serum every week to deliver to him”, Iris/Pythia says. “One day, Monro said he needed some extra, so my father gave him a bunch of bottles with the serum. Really, many. And next time my father went to visit him…”

“He was gone”, Erastus says. “He took Galathea and they were both gone when I got there. No signal of them. No one knows where they went… Naturally, Monro had enough serum to keep Galathea paralyzed for months… But we don’t know what he plans. And that’s when my daughter had a vision…”

They’re all listening carefully. Iris breathes deeply. 

“I had a vision in which she comes back,  **_stronger than ever_ ** ”, she says. “I knew it would be further in the future because… the moon was eclipsed. And that would only happen in some months. That’s why we could afford giving you time to heal, Gabrielle”

Gabrielle swallows, but doesn’t say anything. 

“The only one who could ever fight against Galathea’s power and win… was Xena”, Pythia continues. “We need her now… more than we ever did”

Bastian is paddling. 

“How did you know of Hel’s spell…?”, Petra asks. 

Iris looks at her.

“I know things”, she replies simply. 

“We are here”, Gabrielle says with a sigh. 

Bastian stops paddling. 

“I’ll go”, he says.

“No, I’ll go”, Gabrielle interrupts. “Give me the stones”

“Are you sure?”, Eve asks her, worried. 

“Yes”, she replies. “I must be the one to get the rod”

Petra and Eve hand her the big dark stones, the size of watermelons, that they got from the sidelake and tied with some thin ropes in order for them to become an extra weight. 

“Good luck”, Eve says. “Come right up if you can’t find it. We can get more stones”

Gabrielle nods. She holds the rope with her both hands. Also she places a dagger on her mouth and locks it there with her teeth. 

She gets ready to fall from the boat to the deep, dark waters of the lake. It is cold, but she doesn’t care. She takes a deep breath, holding the rope, and says still with the dagger on her mouth:

“Now”

Erastus and Bastian push the big stones from the boat, so they fall on the waters and sink. Gabrielle, since she is holding the rope that ties the stones all together, sinks too. She sinks quickly, and in no time she is in the bottom of the lake. 

Her eyes are open even though she can’t see anything. With one hand she holds the rope and with the other she touches the ground, trying to feel the rod. She feels some plants, some rocks, and finally… some rocks that are tied to the rod of Asclepius. 

Gabrielle lets go of the rope and grabs the rod. It is enough to keep her from floating because it is also tied to heavy rocks. She gets the dagger out of her mouth and cuts the ropes that tie the rod to the rocks. 

Finally, the rod is free. Gabrielle holds it. She takes an impulse and begins to swim with it to the surface of the lake. 

She emerges with the rod. 

**END OF EPISODE #9**


	10. Episode 10 - In the northern throat - End of season

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the last episode!

**EPISODE #10, END OF SEASON.**

**“IN THE NORTHERN THROAT”**

Amazon tribe.

 **_Varia_** , the queen of the Amazon Nation, stands as she watches young amazon girls practicing physical combat. She is training them herself, therefore she must have a critical eye. 

From now and then, she lets out some exclamations, such as:

“Move your feet! Be careful. Look up your shoulder! Don’t have pity on her, she won’t have pity on you!”

The other amazon warriors/women watch. 

“Very good”, she says when one of the girls disarms the other one. 

Finally, one girl is the winner, and the other one is on the floor, grumpy and disappointed at herself. 

“Well done, Vanya”, queen Varia says to the winner when she approaches the fighting arena. “You’ll be a brave warrior. And you, Iskra…”, she looks at the girl who’s lost, who’s standing up with her head down. 

The girl fears what she’s going to say. But Varia smiles. 

“You’ll be a brave warrior too”, she replies, and the girl smiles back. Varia lifts her eyebrows in a warning to continue: “ **_If_ ** you work on your defense skills. You don’t move your feet quickly enough. In the battlefield, not only will you be protecting yourself, but also your sisters amazons. They’re your family”

The girl called Iskra nods seriously. 

“Promise me you’ll work on that?”, Varia uses a kind tone as she touches the girl’s shoulder. 

“I promise, queen Varia”

“Thank you. Now go and talk to Vanya. She’ll be glad to help you”

Vanya is already smiling, waiting for Iskra to join her. She does, and they walk away, talking. 

An older warrior approaches Varia as she watches the girls leave. She stands next to her and watches the same scene. 

“I can’t even remember the last time we had such a kind hearted queen”, she says. “Usually the queens are so worried with a possible attack that they see no room for kindness”

Varia turns to her. 

“The Amazon Council showed kindness and forgiveness when they absolved me and ruled me innocent due to an unknown interference in my will”, Varia says with a weak smile. “Respect and trust when they allowed me to remain queen. The least I can do is to rule with goodness”

“You’re still regretful, aren’t you?”, the woman asks as she stares at Varia. 

“That I condemned the Amazon Nation?”, Varia looks at her. “That I betrayed my own sisters, and queen Gabrielle?”, she sighs. “I will **_always_ ** regret that”

The older amazon places a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“You’re making it up to us”, she says. “To all of us”

Varia smiles weakly. 

“I’m glad to hear”

They begin walking side by side inside the tribe/village. 

“What’s the report?”, Varia asks her. 

“Thanks to the adoption, our numbers rose significantly”, the woman proceeds. “We are over a hundred now. There is no signal of threat whatsoever. The rivers are full of fish, the forest is full of animals. The fruit trees we’re growing are about to form the fruits. The garden is ready and sprouting vegetables. Pretty much everything is prosperous”

“You know, Yana… I’m finally ready for some period of peace”, Varia says. 

Right when she finishes saying that, an amazon warrior comes running towards them. 

“Queen Varia”, she says. “Queen Gabrielle is here!”

Varia looks very surprised at Yana, because they were just talking about her. 

The big, wooden gates are being opened already, and Varia walks quickly to meet with Gabrielle and her fellows. The warriors were staring at the men who came along; Bastian, Erastus and the two guards. Varia catches a glimpse of Eve and almost loses her breath as she heads to Gabrielle. 

“Queen Gabrielle…”, Varia says with a bit of uncertainty; she is not sure if she has forgiven her of if she still holds grudge. After all, what Varia did was, in her opinion, unforgivable. She bows and kneels. 

“Varia, please stand up”, Gabrielle says and smiles at her. “It’s good to see you”, she offers a hand. 

Varia is hesitant to take it, but she does, and they shake wrists. 

“Have you come to stay?”, she asks, and she looks over Gabrielle’s shoulder, to Eve, who smiles at her. 

“No, I’m sorry, but I need your help”, Gabrielle replies. “Are you… are you still queen?”

Varia swallows and blushes, as if she is shameful. 

“The council forgave me… and allowed me to remain queen”, she replies. 

“Good”, Gabrielle says for her surprise. “Can we talk in private?”

“Of course”, she looks at all of them, the men included. “Follow me”

***

Varia leads them to her tent, which is bigger than all of the others. Her closest warriors and friends are there, Yana included, the shamaness and another warrior. 

“What can I do for you?”, she asks Gabrielle and crosses her arms. 

Petra is very curious; she’s surprised with everything amazon related. Can’t stop looking around and finding everything extremely interesting and beautiful. Bastian gets uncomfortable with the naughty looks that the shamaness is throwing at him. Pythia has her head covered with a veil. Erastus is feeding Remi a piece of seed. The two guards are behind Pythia, motionless, and Eve is side by side with Gabrielle. 

“Queen Varia… I know we have much to talk about…”, Gabrielle begins. “But… To sum up, we need your shamaness’ help to bring Xena back from the dead”

“Bring her from the **_dead?_ **”, she asks. “Is that even possible?”

“We have a combination of powerful items… and people that make it possible”, Eve answers, and Varia looks at her. “Just this once”

Varia doesn’t know what to say. She ends up nodding. 

“Of course”, she says. “Alyona will happily help you”, she gestures at the shamaness, who stares at them. 

“This kind of thing I’ve never done before”, the shamaness speaks as she stands up from the chair where she was sitting on. “It’s not even **_possible_ **”

“It is possible with a **_norse_ ** ritual”, Pythia speaks as she approaches. She lifts the veil from her head and reveals herself. “Might be new for you. For all of us. But it is strictly necessary for the future of humankind”

The shamaness bows. 

“Oracle of Delphi… Pythia…”, she says. 

The other amazons do the same, Varia included. 

“Be welcome”, Varia says to her when she stands up. “We, the amazons, respect and trust your guidance”

“Thank you, queen Varia”, Pythia replies. “Will you help us?”, she turns to the shamaness, Alyona. 

“Tell me everything about this ritual and my part on it”, Alyona responds. “, and I will help you”

“I will meet with you in private”, Pythia says. “But first… I lost track of time. Is it the New Moon yet?”

“It will be tomorrow night”, Alyona says. 

“Good”, Pythia speaks. “We have today and tomorrow to prepare. Shall we?”

“If you’ll excuse us, queen Varia”, Alyona asks her. 

“Yes, of course. Make sure the Oracle gets everything that she needs”, Varia says.

“Thank you again, queen Varia”, Pythia tells her. “Your heart is good, I feel”

She begins walking outside from the tent with the shamaness, and the two guards follow.

“Do they have to come along?”, Alyona asks as they walk out of the tent. 

“It’s protocol, they’re just doing their jobs”, Pythia says.

The shamaness sighs.

“Alright, then”

They leave.

“In the meantime, allow me to take you to your accommodations”, Varia tells the rest of them. “All of you are welcome. Even the men. You are under my protection”

Gabrielle grabs her arm gently before she can turn around to leave too.

“Queen Varia…”, she says. “Thank you”

“Gabrielle, don’t thank me”, she replies. “I will forever owe you”

She turns around and leaves the tent, expecting all of them to follow her. And they do, except for Eve and Gabrielle, who stand side by side for a while longer, thinking. 

“She is in pain”, Eve tells Gabrielle, who nods. 

“And she hasn’t forgiven herself”, Gabrielle says. “Just like someone I know”

They share a look and smile. 

***

Later that day.

Gabrielle is walking around in the village/tribe, being greeted by all the amazons with a smile and a fist to their hearts. Someone joins her, it is Yana. 

“How come there are so many of us?”, Gabrielle asks us. “So many girls… and women”

“After the… Helicon incident… We were very little. When the Council forgave Varia and allowed her to remain queen, she implanted a policy we called ‘adoption’. She followed the example of Amarice (woman who pretended to be amazon because she really wanted to, and eventually Gabrielle made her an amazon, for she was brave, kind, and a warrior), the outsider, and opened the amazon nation for all women who wished to join us. Many did. Not only that, but we went from orphanage to orphanage adopting little girls who also wanted to be amazons, and baby girls who are being taken care of to grow up inside the tribe”

Gabrielle was astonished, surprised, and happy. She couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Queen Varia has been… **_Incredible_ **”, Gabrielle states. 

“She is another woman now”, Yana continues. “Her heart is filled with goodness and love. That is what she shows and rules us with. But I know that the guilt eats her alive to this day”

Gabrielle doesn’t say anything. She sees some girls who are gathered in a circle, sitting on the floor, paying attention to an old woman who is reading them a parchment/scroll. She walks there and is followed by Yana. 

When she is close enough, she can hear the words that are being read by the old woman. 

“... And Xena fought Velaska with her climbing skills…”

Gabrielle smiles and tears fill her eyes. 

“She’s reading them one of my scrolls”, she says. “Our adventures together…”

“You and Xena are an important part of the Amazon History”, Yana says and she smiles at her graciously. “We began teaching them how you became a queen, and your deeds to improve the amazon culture. But the children started to beg to hear more of you and Xena. Of course we gave in”

“That’s… that’s lovely”, Gabrielle even giggles some. 

The old woman who was reading the story stops when she sees Gabrielle. She points at her with a big smile. 

“Look, kids!”, she says. “That is queen Gabrielle! The one from the scrolls!”

The kids get surprised and immediately get up to run to her. They hug her and attack her with love and questions. Gabrielle laughs and gets really happy. 

***

Varia is inside her tent, holding a piece of fabric with her hands. It is the blindfold that she wore when the Helicon thing happened. When she was sent to walk in the desert blindfolded. She still has memories of that, memories that haunt her deeply. 

Eve gently pushes aside the fabric of the “door” of her tent, the curtain, and to announce her presence, says:

“Queen Varia, I’m sorry… Can I come in?”

Varia quickly puts the blindfold inside a little wooden box, closes it and turns to look at Eve. 

“Yes, please, come in, Eve”

Eve enters the tent and smiles kindly at Varia, that heart melting smile. 

“Hi”

“What can I do for you?”, Varia asks. 

“I just want to talk”, Eve speaks. “We haven’t seen each other in a long time. And I know what happened in Helicon…”

Varia stiffens to the mention of that place. 

“Gabrielle forgave you, you know”, Eve goes on. 

“I don’t know how she did that”, Varia says with a broken voice. 

“The same way you forgave **_me_ **”, Eve approaches. “Now you have to forgive yourself”

Varia turns to look at her. They look at each other for a long time. 

“You’re good, Varia”, Eve continues. “I always knew that. It’s no good to punish yourself for something that you can’t change. You can only be better, which you **_are_ **”

“I believe you’re speaking out of experience”, Varia says, but her tone is not provocative; rather honest. 

“And I am”, Eve nods and puts a hand on her arm. “Trust me on this”

Varia smiles. 

“Who’s that girl?”, she asks. 

“Who?”, Eve inquiries.

“The one that came along with you and Gabrielle”

“Oh. That’s Petra. She’s a friend”

“A **_friend?_ **”, Varia raises an eyebrow. 

“Yes. Why do you care?”, Eve’s turn to do the same. 

“I don’t, really”, Varia turns her back to Eve and goes fidget with some of her amazon gadgets. “But she does seem sweet”

Eve smiles. 

“She is”, she says. “A very good friend of Gabrielle’s. And now mine too”

Varia turns to Eve. The tension is clear. Eve approaches.

“I thought about you for a long time”, Eve says. “After I left your tribe… I wanted to come back. But I knew I didn’t belong here. I had a fate to serve”

“Do you still?”, Varia asks her. 

Eve sighs.

“Yes”

“But isn’t the message of Eli spread enough?”, Varia takes her hand. “Why don’t you stay?”

Eve is taken aback, she isn’t expecting that. 

“I’m the messenger… And I need to reach everyone”

“You can’t reach **_everyone_ **”, Varia tells her. “Only if you were to live forever”

“I still have to try my best”

“Please, consider staying”

Eve breathes deeply. 

“What is there for me here, Varia?”

“Don’t you know?”, Varia’s gaze is intense. 

“Varia…”, Eve shifts, very shy. 

Varia takes her other hand. 

“This isn’t right…”, Eve says. “I killed your sister…”

“ **_Livia_ ** did”, Varia replies. “Not you. Not Eve”

“I… I can’t…”

“Just think”, Varia’s forehead touches Eve’s. Then she steps back and lets go of her hands. “You’ll stay for two days… Just please, think”

Eve considers some, and then nods at her. Varia smiles a little. 

***

Far away from there, from the amazon tribe where they’re at. 

Giles and his men are setting camp in the middle of the day. Giles himself is playing with a little doll he made out of sticks, hay, fabric and buttons. As he sits around the fireplace to eat eventually, he coughs so loudly and for so long his men worry about his state of health. He covers his mouth with his arm, and when he retracts it after he finally finishes coughing, his arm, much like his lips and teeth, is covered with blood. 

“What are you looking at?”, he asks his men with anger, and the men go back to their duties. “Stupid mercenaries…”

Giles grabs a piece of the chicken that is being roasted and eats it. He has a hard time swallowing it and breathing, but tries his best not to show. 

One man arrives riding a horse, and Giles stands up, very interested in him. 

The man approaches, dismounts his horse, and walks to Giles.

“Commander”, he says with a hand on his chest. 

“Yes, yes, just say it”, Giles replies. 

“They’re one day and a half ahead of us, East”, the man says. “Their tracks did not change direction”

His horse falls down behind him. 

“I think I rode this horse to his death”, the man speaks with regret and sadness. 

“You did well”, Giles tells him. “Now go and eat. We have a day and a half in front of us”

Giles turns East as the man walks by him. 

“I’ll find you, Gabrielle”, he speaks to himself. “And this time I won’t be merciful”

***

Back to the amazon tribe. 

Bastian is walking around, side by side with Petra, and suddenly some amazon teens/young adults approach him with a basket of fruits. He receives them and smiles.

“Why, thank you, young girls”, he says. 

“You’re welcome”, one of them replies and blushes. “You should come and shower with us”

Petra and Bastian share a look. 

“I appreciate that, thank you”, he answers. “But I am married and love my wife very much”

“Oh, so you’re a… loyal man?”, another amazon asks, puzzled. 

“Yes”, he raises an eyebrow. 

“By the gods”, the amazon women say. “We thought men like you were extinct”

Petra giggles and tries to hide her bigger laughter. 

“I’m the last one”, he decides to play along. “Which is why you should pick a man carefully if you’re ever doing that”

The women smile.

“Understood”

“What’s your name?”, one amazon asks Petra.

“It’s Petra. Yours?”

“Merope”, she replies. “Want to learn some self defense tactics? The group will start any minute now”

Petra looks at Bastian, who nods at her with encouragement. She hesitates a little, looks to the side and sees Eve leaving Varia’s tent with a smile. She takes a deep breath. 

“Alright”, she says, and Merope smiles, taking her along with the amazons. 

***

Erastus is sitting by a trunk, watching the valley before him, smoking a pipe. He can see the mountains, the forest, the river… the amazon tribe’s big, wooden gate that surrounds it like a fortress. The sun is still strong. 

“Ah”, he exclaims when he spots a dot on the sky that comes closer and closer: Remy. “There you are”

Remy lands in front of Erastus with a small fish in his beak. 

“Found yourself a meal”, the man tells his bird. “Good for you. You’ve been so dear to me, Remy. Brought me happiness”

Remy swallows his fish at once. Erastus chuckles, leans in and caresses the bird with a finger. 

“You’re more than just a messenger bird”, he continues. “I hope you know”

Remy chirps and looks at him with understanding, or so it seems. 

“Father?”, Iris approaches with her two guards.

“Oh, Iris”, he says. “I mean Pythia…”

“Iris is alright”, she sits next to him with a smile. “Listen… there’s something I want to talk to you about”

“Yes?”, he turns to her with concern. 

She takes a deep breath. It’s noticeable she’s very nervous, but trying to hide it. 

“Do you remember the first vision I ever had?”, she asks him.

“If I remember?”, he replies with a cough. “You couldn’t sleep for a week”

“Right. I never told you what it was about… But I think it’s time now that you know”

They share a heavy look.

***

Later on. The night comes. 

They’re all gathered around a big fireplace, talking, chatting, eating. Not only Gabrielle’s band and herself, but also some amazons, including queen Varia. Erastus seems lost, as if he’s submerged in thoughts, and also sad. Sometimes he shoots looks at his daughter, who’s talking to the shamaness beside her. 

Eve is taking care of Petra’s face, which is injured and now she has a bad black eye. Bastian is sitting on the other side of Petra, smiling.

“You said you couldn’t dodge?”, he asks Petra.

She sighs in pain but doesn’t move her face because Eve is cleaning the wound for the second time. 

“Yes, Bastian, I couldn’t dodge”, she replies. “The amazon taught me how to dodge, went to demonstrate with a punch, and I couldn’t dodge when the time came”

Bastian laughs and Eve hides a small giggle. 

Petra looks at her how she can.

“Even you?”

“I’m sorry”, Eve says. “It’s just… it’s normal to freeze, you know. It’s when your mind is racing and it is in charge of you, instead of your instincts. But when it comes to battle, you have to let your instincts take control”

“I have a hard time doing that”, Petra says with discouragement. 

“Next time, try to shut down your brain and focus on what you’re seeing right in front of you”, Eve continues. “If your body reacts without your permission, allow it, and go with it”

Petra smiles. 

“Thank you”

Eve smiles back. 

“You’re welcome. But why do you want to learn how to fight?”

“Not fight, just defend myself. It’s a dangerous world”

“Even for a scroll seller?”, Eve raises an eyebrow. 

“ **_Especially_ ** for a scroll seller”, Petra replies. “Do you not know how many warlords are interested in scrolls?”

It is obviously a joke and Eve laughs. When she does, she catches a glimpse of Varia watching her from the other side of the fireplace. Immediately Varia looks away and goes back to talking to one of her warriors. 

“I’m not only a scroll seller, you know”, Petra goes on.

“Oh, no?”, Eve asks as she finishes cleaning and puts a bandage there.

“No. I also like writing”

“Oh, the lady is right”, Bastian says. “Her stories are amazing. She used to come by the tavern sometimes to tell them. People love her”

Petra blushes. 

“And now you don’t anymore?”, Eve asks. 

Petra shrugs. 

“No”, she replies simply, but there’s more to that story. 

“You should continue doing that, Petra”, Bastian tells her. “Just because Gabrielle came along, you can’t feel like you’re not as good as her. You two have different ways of storytelling and they’re both incredible”

“But she is **_Gabrielle_ **”, Petra says. “She’s a bard. She’s awesome…”

“And so are you”, Bastian replies. “Truly. I’ll give you Friday nights at the tavern. Every week. How about that? Got any stories ready?”

Petra looks at him and smiles.

“I have tons”

“Perfect, then! It’s a deal”

They shake hands and Petra giggles. 

Gabrielle excuses herself, stands up and walks to her tent.

Inside her tent, she sees Xena’s ashes on top of a wooden table. She lightens a candle and walks to the table to place it there. 

“Xena…”, Gabrielle says as she looks at the urn inside which are Xena’s ashes. “I’m very sure you’re aware of what is happening from where you are right now, but… Things are crazy”, she sighs and lets herself sit on a chair. She holds her head and supports her elbows on the same table. “There might be a way to bring you back, Xena… **_Back_ ** , to be here with me”, Gabrielle lifts her head to look once again at the urn. “Of course, once you’re here we’ll have to fight an imaginable huge threat, but don’t we always?”, she giggles. Then she reaches the urn and places her hand on it. “I have been fighting this whole time not to let my hopes too high in case this goes wrong. I’ve been having a hard time… Trying to dismiss this idea of bringing you back, because deep down I’ve settled with your death. I found my peace. But this peace is shaken like a hurricane when I see a possibility that you’re back. And not because I don’t want you to be back, trust me, Xena, it is what I want the most in this world. But because… if it goes wrong, my heart will be broken again. And all the pain I overcame will come back and take control of me again, which is something that I don’t know if I can handle”, at this point, Gabrielle is shedding some tears. She pauses to collect herself and then continues. “What I came here to tell you is that I’ll put aside those reservations of mine. That means I will surrender to the hope of bringing you back. From now on, I’m stripping myself from the hesitancy, the fear, the restriction and the self preservation, and I am fully… **_yours_ **”

After saying that, Gabrielle smiles widely. She sobs with her tears, but keeps smiling and even laughing a little. Seems like the realization of bringing Xena back finally caught up with her. 

“I’m yours, Xena, and I’ve always been yours”, she says again with emotion. 

***

The next day. 

Petra and Bastian are practicing self defense and learning some new fighting moves. The women are very rigid and strict with them, but it’s good because they’re learning fast. Petra is even using a staff of her own while Bastian chose to go with “[ nunchaku ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunchaku)” (a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks connected at one end by a short chain or rope). 

Pythia and the shamaness (and of course the Oracle’s two bodyguards) are walking around, talking of technicalities of the ritual as Pythia shows her the page with Hel’s spell and they gesticulate and point around. The shamaness goes spreading some sort of powder around the tribe. 

Erastus is watching them from afar. His sad eyes are on Pythia as he smokes the pipe and gives nuts to Remy on his shoulder. 

Eve and Varia are walking side by side, talking and laughing; they seem to be having a really good time together. 

Gabrielle sits by the dining table outside where Erastus is, very next to him. She sighs.

“Pythia told me it will be tonight”, Gabrielle says. “We will perform the spell tonight”

“I am aware”, Erastus replies drily. 

She looks at him with curiosity; he isn’t that dry normally. He exhales and a cloud of smoke blurs him. 

“Is everything alright?”, Gabrielle carefully asks him. 

He seems to be aware of himself right now and finally turns to meet Gabrielle’s gaze.

“Oh, yes, everything is alright, forgive me, Gabrielle”, he speaks, regaining his posture. “I think finally the reality of what we are about to do hit me”

Gabrielle nods along and smiles. 

“Me too”, she says. “Last night I spoke to Xena… well, to Xena’s ashes. It’s something that I do…”

“And that is completely normal, you shouldn’t be ashamed of that”, he smiles at her with care. 

Gabrielle smiles back. 

“... And I finally realized what we are doing”, she completes. “We are bringing her back”

Erastus can’t help but to smile to Gabrielle’s happiness and excitement, except he doesn’t look super content himself. He pats her shoulder. 

“We are, Gabrielle”, he says. “We are bringing Xena back”

***

Giles and his men ride horses fiercely through a path among the forest. He has dozens of mercenaries under his command.

***

The night falls, the time has come. 

The atmosphere around the amazon tribe is of mystery and mysticism. It’s dark, but some torches are lit and also many fireplaces. 

Gabrielle is dressed like the amazons while Pythia is dressed in her Oracle clothes (white robe). The shamaness, Alyona, is dressed in her ritual clothes, with deer antler on her head, animals’ fur all over her body, leather and metal. Gabrielle places Xena’s chakram on her belt. All the amazons and Gabrielle’s friends, including Erastus, who’s watching everything with mournful eyes, are gathered there on the center of the amazon tribe, where there are two handmade beds as high as the floor close to a bigger fireplace. 

Xena’s ashes are by one bed, along with the rod of Asclepius, and Gabrielle’s bracelet. 

“Lie down”, the shamaness commands to Gabrielle, who obeys with a nervous sigh and lies down by the empty bed. 

The shamaness gets everything that is on the other bed and places it on Gabrielle’s, making sure they’re all touching her. 

“Hold this”, Alyona gives her the rod, and Gabrielle does what she is told. “And this”, and she places the urn under Gabrielle’s other arm. “And this”, the shamaness puts the bracelet (the siren’s tear) on Gabrielle’s free hand. 

Watching all that, Gabrielle’s forehead furrows. 

“Why is there another bed here next to mine?”, she asks. 

“For me”, Pythia announces as she lies down on that bed. 

“What?!”, Gabrielle sits down. “Why?”

“I am coming with you, Gabrielle”, she replies. “I know the way”

“How do you know the way?”

“I’ve seen it… in my visions”

Gabrielle looks at Erastus, who is still.

“Won’t it be dangerous for you?”, she asks Pythia.

Pythia smiles at her.

“No, it won’t”

Gabrielle lies back down. 

Eve rushes to her and kneels to be by her bed. 

“Gabrielle…”, she places a hand on her shoulder with a warm smile. “Good luck”

Gabrielle smiles back and Eve stands up to join Varia, who receives her back holding her hand. 

“Now close your eyes and all you have to do is relax as your souls meet Hel, the goddess of the underworld”, Alyona says. 

Gabrielle and Pythia do so.

The shamaness begins to sing and to perform a dance. Some of the amazons follow along, dancing too (synchronized) and screaming to the song, to the words in other language she is saying. Drums are played. Alyona dives a wad of dried herbs in a bowl with animal blood and sprinkles it all over Gabrielle and Pythia, covering their bodies with drops of blood. She also throws in the air a handful of an unknown powder that darkens the sight for some moments and creates clouds of blackness… Said clouds are slowly being eaten by the fire of the torches and the fireplaces. Bastian watches everything with astonishment, and so does Petra there beside him. 

Suddenly, Gabrielle is standing by the fireplace, watching as her own body is lied down still on the bed. Her spirit is out of her body. She is surprised with what she sees. The amazons dancing around and singing literally pass through her. 

“Gabrielle?”, she hears someone calling her. When she turns around, she sees it’s Pythia, Iris. She is too out of her body, who’s abed next to her. 

“Come. It’s this way”, and Iris begins walking away from where the whole ritual is happening. 

Gabrielle follows her in silence, realizing she is holding the rod of Asclepius in her hand, the bracelet with her other hand, and Xena’s urn beneath her arm. Iris walks through the big, wooden, solid wall that separates the tribe from the dense forest and Gabrielle does the same. Since they’re spirits, they can do that. They find themselves in the middle of the dark forest, being illuminated by solely the light of the moon. 

They walk some more and finally Iris stops by an enormous hole on the roots of an old tree. The hole is deep and no one can see how far down it goes. She turns to Gabrielle. 

“Let me help you”, she carries Xena’s urn.

“Is this allowed?”, Gabrielle asks, uncertain. 

“Yes”, she simply replies. “Now we have to enter this hole and go down”

Iris goes first, followed by a very careful Gabrielle. She steps inside… and sees there is a not so large path there that goes down like a very inclined ramp. Almost vertical, so she has to be careful since there are no steps, only roots and dirt. 

***

Suddenly, Alyona stops dancing and stops singing; she is still, with her eyes closed, pointing at the sky with both of her hands. The drums stop and the amazons stop dancing and singing as they notice her do that. The silence reigns. 

“They crossed”, Alyona says, opening her eyes. “The ritual is complete. Now all we have to do is wait for them to come back. My queen Varia…”, she approaches Varia. “We must make sure no one touches Gabrielle and the Oracle. **_No one_ ** can remove the rod, the bracelet or Xena’s ashes from Gabrielle’s body while she is in the underworld”

Varia nods and looks to some of her warriors.

“There is no need to protection, but I understand your worry, shamaness. Micha, Ulma, guard Gabrielle and the Oracle”, she commands. “Make sure no one comes close to them”

Two warriors approach Gabrielle and Pythia and bow to Varia. They are holding their spears and stay there still like Pythia’s bodyguards, who look at them with interest. 

***

Giles and his men are watching the amazon tribe from the top of some trees. They’re hidden both by the leaves and the night. 

“I think they stopped dancing, commander”, one man whispers to Giles. 

“No shit?”, he asks with irony. “You realized that because the song stopped or because your eyes work?”

The man doesn’t reply.

“We should have attacked when they were dancing, but I just couldn’t stop staring…”, Giles says, and has another cough attack, which he covers with his free hand. 

“Are you alright, commander?”, one man places a hand on his back.

“ **_Fine!_ ** ”, he spits back with anger. “Now y’all, useless pigs, remember, it is a rod that has a snake carved in wood around it. It is not a battle staff, so don’t go on grabbing amazon’s staffs from the ground, from their hands, and bringing it to me, because the rod of Asclepius is not **_that_ **. Kill as many amazons as you wish, but Gabrielle is mine. Which won’t be a problem because I think she’s the one lying down there close to the fireplace, asleep, if that is even possible. When I get the rod, keep fighting to slow them down so they won’t go after me. Y’all heard?”, he asks and turns his head over his shoulder for the men on the other branches to answer “yes”. 

“Good”, Giles goes on. “Now… **_ATTACK!_ **”

The men jump down from the trees to the ground carrying heavy ropes wrapped under their arms to their shoulders, and by the end of the rope there are metallic, rusty hooks. They get close to the big, wooden wall of the tribe, and throw the hooks up in the sky; the hooks get planted, carved in the wood up there, and the men begin to climb the walls. 

***

Gabrielle and Pythia are walking through a valley of darkness where they can’t see anything, but Pythia leads the way and Gabrielle tightens the hold of the rod. 

“Thank you for coming along”, Gabrielle tells Pythia. “You’re right, you do know the way. If it weren’t for you, I’d be lost already”

Pythia looks at her and smiles. 

“I’ve seen the way, in particular, in my dreams”, she answers. “It’s always dark like this, but I always know where to go”

“You’re impressive”, Gabrielle tells her. “I mean… I think I feel grateful to you”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you gave me the time I needed to heal. At first I couldn’t understand it, and I felt angry at you, at Erastus… for not telling me that there’s a way to bring Xena back”

“... A way that, if I might add, you always knew”, Pythia cuts her with gentleness. 

“Right”, Gabrielle blushes with shame. “A way that I always knew but could never remember. Still… I came to hate both of you. But now I understand what you did. And I’m thankful”

“I’m glad you could see it”, Iris replies with graceness. “I never doubted you would, I only thought it would take you a while longer. That you’d despise my company here, in the underworld”

“I don’t!”

“I know”, Iris sighs and looks at the urn that she’s been holding. “It was really a tragedy what happened to Xena. I heard her body was… mutilated”

Gabrielle closes her eyes for a moment and Xena’s body, hanging in the sky, headless, comes to her mind. She shivers. 

“It was”, she replies simply. 

“Well, if everything works out tonight, she’ll be entirely back”, Pythia smiles a little. 

“Galathea…”, Gabrielle begins, and her voice echoes in the darkness. “... there is really no salvation for her?”

“I’m afraid not”, Iris says. “She has a disease no one can cure. A disease of soul. Evilness. Not even the rod of Asclepius can cure that. And I fear that the future generations won’t ever find a way to cure it either”

“Isn’t it crazy to think that someone so evil was born, only to gain more powers and become more evil?... Sometimes I ask myself if there’s even a balance in the world”

“There **_is_ ** a balance, of that you can be sure”, Iris replies. “There’s bad and there’s good, there’s life and there’s death. Sometimes, the balance is broken, and the evil ones remain alive, while the good ones die. But you can know as truth that there is a **_reason_ ** for that”

Gabrielle seems to think deeply about her words. 

“Is there?”, she asks with doubt. “Because I don’t see it”

“No one sees it. It makes no sense for us”

Gabrielle shakes her head without Pythia seeing it, as if she’s given up on that conversation. 

“Oh, here we are”, Pythia suddenly says and stops walking.

Gabrielle can see that an image formed in front of them: a bridge ( **Gjallarbrú** **)** with a golden path crossing it; the bridge crosses a quick and loud river ( **Gjöll** **)** underneath it. It is a large bridge and they begin to walk over it. Gabrielle looks out of the bridge to see the river.

“Who comes along?” a female, grave voice echoes, and the bridge shakes as a **_big_ ** **_giant_ ** **_woman (_ ** **Móðguðr** **_)_ **approaches the two women. She’s fierce and seems to be ready to fight. She stops close to them and Gabrielle looks up to her in fear. Pythia, however, seems dauntless.

***

“ **_WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!!_ **”, one amazon yells loudly in the middle of a battle with a man that jumped over the wall and fell inside the tribe, already with a sword on his hand. 

The women warriors immediately arm themselves and begin to fight with the intruders. Some of them grab bows and arrows and shoot the higher edge of the walls, hitting the men that finished climbing; some of them fall dead on the ground, but some never stop coming. Giles among them. 

The battle begins. It’s chaos. 

Erastus, Bastian, Petra and Eve, that are inside Varia’s tent, talking and discussing, stop immediately and get nervous. 

Varia takes both her swords from her back and runs outside the tent to fight. 

Eve turns to the rest of them and says:

“I have to help!”, so she runs after Varia.

“Count me in!”, Bastian speaks as he runs to grab one other sword from the tent and also leaves, leaving Petra and Erastus alone. 

Erastus grabs one fighting staff. 

“Stay here, Petra”, he tells her. “It’s too dangerous outside. Stay here and you’ll be safe. If anyone comes in, hide”

“But…”, she begins, but it is useless, because the elder man is already out of the tent. 

***

“They’re **_Giles’ men!!!_ **”, Bastian shouts as he fights against one. 

Varia and the amazons are fighting bravely. Eve too; she released the Livia inside her and is fighting with everything that she’s got. 

The two amazons that are guarding Gabrielle and Pythia’s body fight too, against many attackers, Giles included. 

The fight goes on as the amazons battle bravely and kill many men; but of course some of them fall dead as well. 

***

The giant woman asks Gabrielle and Pythia:

“Who are you and why do you want to pass?”

“My name is Iris, and this is Gabrielle. We wish to speak to the goddess Hel”, Pythia answers. 

The giant bends backwards with a curious look on her face. 

“Speak to the goddess, you said?”, she asks. “What is your business with her?”

“That is private. But we have gifts for her”, Pythia gestures to the rod in Gabrielle’s hand. 

The giant seems to consider all that for a while… 

“What does the rod do?”

“It heals”, Pythia says. 

“It really does? Can it heal the thorn I stepped on?”

The giant woman shows the sole of her bare foot and it has a big thorn on it; it’s awfully injured. 

Pythia gestures for Gabrielle to heal her. Gabrielle, uncertain, approaches the big foot, a little scared, and, not knowing how to proceed, touches the thorn with the head of the snake of the rod. 

Immediately the thorn disappears and the injury is healed. 

“Ah!!!”, the giant smiles. “Ah-ah! By Odin, this feels good… I can finally walk straight!”

Gabrielle steps back with a tiny smile on her face. 

“You may pass, you may pass”, the giant stands to the side to open the way.

“Thank you”, Pythia says, and Gabrielle does too. 

They start crossing the rest of the bridge. 

***

The fight goes on in the amazon tribe. 

Erastus is using a staff and defeating many men. 

“ **_PROTECT GABRIELLE AND THE ORACLE!!!_ **”, Varia screams as she fights two men at once with her two swords. 

Some tents are on fire. Children are running. 

One old woman is dragging the little girls to the back of the tribe, where there’s an emergency exit. 

“Come, girls, quickly!”, she says. 

Until then, the men were ignoring the children. But then, some of them see them and run towards them. Before they can get to them, however, a screaming figure lands in front of them, stopping them from continuing. 

It’s Eve. She’s covered in blood, has anger all over her face, a sword in her hand, and dangerous eyes. 

“ **_Don’t touch the children_ **”, she says to the men; her voice is a threat. 

The men share a look with a mocking laughter and go to attack her. 

Their mistake.

Because Eve fights like she’s never fought before. Defends herself with her sword, kicks and jumps; kills them the most horrible ways, cutting a man’s head off; a man’s arm off, throwing another one to the ground and breaking his neck in the fall almost vertical. She’s Livia all over again. She even performs that one move that is so singular to her. 

Some girls watch in terror, but the old amazon woman manages to push all of them to the back of the tribe, as Eve finishes killing all of the men. 

“Eve…”, Varia approaches Eve from behind and touches her shoulder; Eve, still into her frenesi, turns around quickly with a battle cry and raises her sword to attack. 

Thankfully, Varia blocks the attack with her own two swords and screams at Eve:

“ **_IT’S ME, VARIA!!!_ **”

Eve’s eyes regain focus and she instantly lowers her sword, coming back to her senses. We can only see her big, green eyes contrasting with the red blood in which her whole face is covered. 

“I’m sorry”, she says with regret. 

“It’s fine!”, Varia replies in a rush. “I am calling you because they’re almost getting to Gabrielle and the Oracle, it’s where they’re concentrating the attack! We have to go!”

Eve and Varia run towards where Gabrielle and Pythia are lying down on their beds. 

***

Pythia and Gabrielle face a big castle guarded by an enormous gate that seems impenetrable. 

“We have to round it”, Pythia says. “And enter it through the dungeons”

Gabrielle looks at her as she starts to walk. 

“You really know the way”, she exclaims.

“Yes”

Suddenly, the rod disappears from Gabrielle’s hand. She looks at it, desperate, and shows her bare, empty hand to Pythia. 

“The rod!!!”, she exclaims with terror and concern. “ **_It’s gone!!!_ **”

***

Giles rises with the rod of Asclepius on his hand and a smile on his face. He just bent down to get it from Gabrielle’s unconscious body. His men are fighting the amazons all around him, so he managed to get it. With his other hand, he holds a sword, which he points at Gabrielle’s neck. 

“Farewell, Gabrielle”, he says, and when he is about to cut her neck, one dagger comes flying from nowhere and hits him on the chest.

Giles screams in pain and looks ahead: Varia and Eve come running, and it was Varia who threw the dagger at him. 

The man plucks out the dagger from his chest, turns around and starts running away. 

“He has the rod!”, Eve screams to Varia. 

“Let’s get him!!!”, Varia responds.

But as soon as Giles runs outside, through the gates, some of his men jump in front of the two warriors and start fighting them, blocking their way and giving Giles leverage. 

***

“What are we going to do? What happened?”, Gabrielle asks Pythia in despair. 

Pythia, who’s visibly worried as well, tries to remain calm as she speaks:

“We have to keep going, the ritual doesn’t last for too long. Something happened within the amazon tribe. We just have to trust that the rod will return to you before we meet with Hel”

“By the gods…”, Gabrielle runs a hand through her hair; she’s very nervous and almost panicking. “I can’t believe this is happening”

“Settle down”, Pythia sees that she’s almost losing it and stands in front of her, holding her shoulder with her free hand. “Look at me”

Gabrielle obeys, but she’s breathing too rapidly. 

“Have faith in your friends”, Pythia says. “You know that they have your back. It’s time to rely on them now and trust that they’ll bring back the rod to you”

Gabrielle breathes deeply and tries to calm down with everything that Iris is saying. 

“I know that you’re giving your all self to this task, Gabrielle”, she continues. “I know you’re putting your blood and your soul into it. **_Have faith_ **”

Gabrielle nods at her, seeming slightly recomposed. 

“Let’s keep going”, Pythia offers a hand, and Gabrielle, after a second of hesitancy, grabs it and they both keep walking in an advanced pace. 

***

The fight goes on.

Bastian is defending himself and also attacking some men.

Petra, inside the tent, keeps fidgeting, very nervous. Finally, she grabs a sword from the sword shelf and leaves the tent, on her way to face battle. 

When she does it, she gets scared, but still holds her sword up. One man spots her and runs to her with his sword ready to kill her. She is nervous. When he reaches her, she dodges his fatal blow and knocks him down with a strong hit of the hilt of her sword on his head. She smiles, proud with what she’s done.

One second later, a blade cuts through her stomach from behind. 

Her smile disappears as she stumbles and falls on her knees, looking at her own belly. Her attacker, a man, retracts his bloody sword from her back and is ready to cut her head off, but suddenly a lace made of thin rope closes itself around his neck and he’s violently pulled behind by a deadly grip: Alyona, the shamaness, is pulling the lace with all her strength as if the man is a defenseless bull to be dominated. 

The man falls to the ground with his head turning purple; he can’t fight the grip, which is too tight and suffocating. Alyona passes the lace over a high branch of a tree and catches it; she keeps pulling and pulling until the man is no longer touching the ground with his feet: she hanged him and now he doesn’t breathe anymore: he’s dead. 

Erastus gets to Petra, kneeling beside her.

“Petra…”, he says as he pulls her to him. 

She’s still alive, but very pale, and she looks at him; some blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. 

“I was a failure”, she says with a weak voice. 

Erastus tries to cover her injury with a piece of fabric he got from his own robe. 

“You are not a failure, and never were”, he replies with a sharp voice, as if he is lecturing her. “Now you have to fight for your life, it is only up to you”

He turns her around to see the entrance of the wound on her back; chews on something, gets the herb he was chewing from his mouth and places it inside the bloody wound. Petra screams in pain. 

“Come with me now”, he uses all of his force to carry her bridal style and walk among the ongoing battle with great speed. 

***

Gabrielle and Iris are walking through the dungeons; looking around… it’s fully empty, which is surprising. Why, then, have a dungeon?

Finally they get out of the dungeon and reach the hall of the castle. By the end of it, on a big, fancy altar, carved in skulls, there’s a throne made of black smoke. And sitting on it is **_Hel_ **, the goddess of the underworld, Helheim. 

“Who dares to enter my castle without my permission?”, her voice echoes. 

She has a face that is half of a incredibly beautiful woman, and half of a corpse. 

Pythia looks at Gabrielle.

“I’m Gabrielle, and this is Iris…”, Gabrielle says with an hesitant voice. 

“Greek? You’re greek. I’m very interested in the greek culture. Come closer”, Hel replies. 

Pythia and Gabrielle walk side by side until they’re standing right in front of the altar, staring at Hel with scared eyes. Gabrielle tightens the hold of her hand where the rod is supposed to be and she swallows dryly. 

“Oh, why, look at you”, Hel is smiling at Iris with curiosity. “Aren’t you something… Iris. Iris, Iris, I can feel your power, your gift. Would you give me your hand?”

And the goddess offers her a hand. Iris walks closer, fearless, and holds her hand. Hel closes her eyes, feeling her power, and her whole body shines in grey smoke, alike her throne. 

“Ah, yes…”, Hel speaks, and opens her eyes, letting go of Iris’ hand. “A prophet, aren’t you? Almost like Mimir himself”

“Not quite”, Iris says, and Hel smiles. 

“Well, what do you have there? An urn?”, Hel looks at what Iris is carrying.

Iris looks at Gabrielle, trying to see if the rod has returned, but Gabrielle is empty handed. 

“Yes, your highness… We would like to ask a favor of you…”, Iris begins to say. “We have an old sheet that says that, offered the right gifts, you could bring one soul from the dead back to the world of the living…”

“Oh, yeah, **_that_ ** ”, Hel sighs, rolls her eyes and lets herself leans more against the back of her throne. “I hate it that the ritual is still circling around in your world. It pisses me off! I mean, very few people managed to even **_perform_ ** the ritual to come down here, and not even one of those who succeeded, let me tell you, **_not even one_ ** brought me gifts good enough. They bring me flowers, dead animals, weird food, weird drinks… What do they think I am? A human? Can they not see the other half of me?”, she points at her own face and sighs again. “I’m tired. Your gifts better be worthy. I know already **_one_ ** of them is”, and she looks at Iris with an evil smile. 

Gabrielle doesn’t understand much and looks at her own pulse where the bracelet is; maybe she saw the siren’s tear from there and realize that it was it. Shaking with fear, Gabrielle steps closer. 

“We brought you gifts from Greece…”, she begins to say. “A mermaid’s tear”, and takes of her bracelet and offers it to Hel.

Hel, with big, curious eyes, takes it and analyses it deeply impressed. 

“A greek mermaid’s tear…”, she says in a whisper. “... That contains a love spell so mighty it could bewitch even the most powerful of the gods… And bend him or her to one’s will…”

Gabrielle exchange looks with Iris; she had no idea the bracelet had that power. Hel places the bracelet on her own wrist and looks at it, cherishing and treasuring it with a satisfied smile. 

“You girls are the first ones to come here and offer me things I can accept”, she claps and a bottle of norse mead appears in front of them, alongside with three fine mugs. “Let’s drink to that before you show me the rest!”

The bottle tilts itself in the air by itself and fills the three mugs. Hel takes one and rises it. 

“Come on now, get yours, don’t let this fine mead go to waste. It was given to me by a fierce warrior dwarf from Nidavellir. I don’t know how he put his hands on this preciousness”

Gabrielle and Pythia get their mugs that are levitating. 

“A toast to the first women to get down here”, Hel says with a smile. “And also the first humans to ever offer me something of my liking - concerning this ritual, of course. **_Skål!_ **”

Gabrielle and Iris repeat “Skål” and drink from their mugs when Hel does the same. 

***

Varia and Eve finally manage to kill all the men they were fighting against, and now they’re running through the dark forest, following a very rapid Giles that is running for his life, holding the rod with all his force. This chasing lasts for some time. Eve and Varia get scratched by the thin branches they don’t see, but they don’t stop; they jump over bushes and roots, over stones and animals on their persecution, as Giles does the very same. 

Giles reaches a part of the forest in which the trees and bushes end, and, even though it’s dark because of the night, the moon illuminates the thick river he just got to. He stops because he has a cough attack; he even falls to his knees there on the riverfront, expelling blood from his mouth. 

“Finally…”, he says still on his knees, holding the rod with both hands and looking at it with crazy happiness. “I’ll heal myself”

And he closes his eyes. 

But when he does so, before he can heal himself, a figure is thrown over him, and the rod escapes from his hand as he falls to the side. It’s Varia. 

“ **_NO!_ **”, he screams and begins to fight with her, enraged. 

Varia fights well, but a man with that determination can be fierce too. Finally Eve joins her and they’re both fighting him, but he’s **_good_ **. He manages to injure both of them, even though he’s being gravely hurt himself. Finally, with an acrobatic jump to the side, he grabs the rod from the floor and runs towards a small boat that is docked by the river. 

“ **_QUICKLY!_ **”, Eve yells and she and Varia run all speed towards him. “He can’t get away!”

But Giles is quicker and is already pushing the boat to the running waters of the river; the rod inside of it. 

Varia grabs Eve’s arm and screams:

“ **_EVE, NOW!_ **”

As Varia kneels, joins her fists in front of her face with elbows together, Eve steps on her forearms taking a big impulse with it + the fact that Varia pushes her with a loud scream and jumping forward = Eve is almost flying on the air riding a very strong jump, spinning, letting out a battle scream that belonged to Livia, and she finally lands on the boat, that is being carried by the current, with Giles. 

The man, surprised, lets out a groan with a scream, gets a dagger from his belt and attacks Eve. Eve dodges it, locks his hand underneath her armpit, punches him in the face, breaking his nose; he knocks her head with his own head and she stumbles back. Giles intends to nail the dagger on her stomach, but Eve holds his hand with both of hers; disarms him and finally cuts his throat open. 

With the eyes very much open in horror, Giles tries to hold his own throat, tries to keep it from bleeding, but he falls from the boat and is taken by the current to die and stain the waters with his dark red blood. 

Eve gets the rod and jumps outside of the boat, having to swim a little to reach the riverside where she can stand; Varia is waiting for her and she helps her.

“I got it, **_I got the rod_ **”, Eve says, all wet. “We must run back to Gabrielle!”

“Well done”, Varia tells her, and they share a small smile before running back to the forest in all their despair and rush. 

***

“Well, that was entertaining”, Hel says and with a snap of her fingers, the mugs and the bottle disappear into thin air. “I have one more question, though. Who is it that you wish me to bring back to life?”

“Xena, the warrior princess”, Gabrielle responds. 

Hel’s eyes open in wide confusion.

“Xena, **_the valkyrie?!_ **”, she asks. “That Xena?”

“... Yes”, Gabrielle says. 

Hel lets out a laughter. 

“Oh, my, my, that one gave Odin such a headache, it was so fun to watch. I can’t believe she’s dead!! What a waste. I mean, I thought she was an old woman by now. That she retired and was living with loads of sheep and grandchildren in the farm”

Gabrielle smiles at that scene. 

“It’s a long story”, she says. “But Xena died in Jappa, under some… circumstances that concretized she had to remain dead”

“Had to **_remain_ ** dead?”, Hel asks. “Well, no one has to remain dead, dear. That’s just a made up story”

“Not in Xena’s case. Yodoshi, a powerful demon, was holding hostage forty thousand souls… that Xena would condemn to eternal suffering if she came back to life”, Gabrielle explains. “I was hoping you could… reverse… that situation”

Hel laughs.

“Reverse that situation? I can **_control_ ** that situation”, she says. “With… the right gifts, of course, and you’ve proven yourself worthy of it by offering me the mermaid’s tear and bringing this Oracle to pay me a **_visit_ ** . Now who does that **_Yodoshi_ ** think he is? I’ll teach him some manners”

Hel claps her hands twice.

“There. Gone. Doesn’t exist anymore. Won’t bother anyone anymore, ever. The forty thousand souls will remain free. And he’s very ugly, by the way”

Gabrielle is in shock. She can’t believe it! She can’t believe how powerful Hel is. 

“Now, the other gift?”, Hel raises an eyebrow at Gabrielle and Iris. 

Gabrielle fidgets. 

***

Erastus lays Petra’s body (still alive) close to Gabrielle’s sleeping body. 

“Hang in there”, he tells her.

He, then, sees that the rod of Asclepius is gone, and gets desperate and sad at the same time. 

“Oh, no… I’m too late…”, he whispers. 

The battle is still going on around him.

He looks to the side and sees his daughter there, “asleep” as well. 

“Or am I?”, he asks. 

Erastus lifts Gabrielle’s hand and sees she’s no longer holding the bracelet. 

“The bracelet is gone”, he says. “She already gave it to Hel. But…”, and he looks again at his daughter. 

As the amazons are still fighting, Varia and Eve come running and join him.

“By the gods, you have the rod!”, Erastus exclaims. 

Eve kneels beside Gabrielle.

“Giles had gotten it, but we got it back”, she says, out of breath. Then she sees Petra. “ **_Petra?!_ ** What happened to her?”

“She was injured”, Erastus says. “I was going to try and use the rod on her”

Eve immediately touches Petra with the rod and her wound closes. She breathes deeply again and opens her eyes. Erastus sighs in relief. 

“What is that?”, Varia asks when she sees what’s happening. “You… you **_cured_ ** her with the rod?”

Eve looks at her.

“Yes”, she says, and now she places the rod in Gabrielle’s grip. 

“What are you doing, we can cure all of the injured amazons with that rod!”, Varia yells at her, indignant. 

“Gabrielle will need it to bring Xena back”, Erastus tells her.

“So Xena’s life is more important than my sisters’?”, Varia asks in disbelief and anger. 

Eve is looking at her with compassion and sadness. 

“This time, it is, my dear”, Erastus says.

“This is bullshit”, Varia goes for the rod, but Eve stops in front of her, stopping her. Her face shows supplication, as if she’s begging Varia not to do that. “Get out of my way, Eve”

Eve shakes her head.

“No”, she replies. 

“I won’t say it again”

Eve unsheathes her sword and points it at Varia’s chest. 

“ ** _No_ **”

Varia looks at her with surprise and anger. 

***

Gabrielle breathes out in relief as the rod appears in her hand. She smiles at Iris and offers it to Hel. 

“The rod of Asclepius”, she says. “The healing god. This rod has the power of…”

“... Healing everything it touches if asked”, Hel, once again with big, curious, ambitions eyes, holds the rod and smiles with satisfaction. “Brilliant”, and she looks at Gabrielle. “You did not disappoint me”

“I’m glad”, Gabrielle replies. 

“Now… You can leave, Gabrielle”, Hel says. “Xena will be back from the dead as promised. I appreciate the gifts”

“Thank you”, Gabrielle says with relief. “But… wait… Iris?”, her face is suddenly worried. 

Iris, however, only smiles at her. 

“I’ll stay, Gabrielle”, she says, for Gabrielle’s surprise. 

***

Eve and Varia are engaged in a terrible fight between themselves and also with some of the men that come to attack them; it’s a mess and it’s horrible. When they’re fighting each other, however, Erastus screams loudly:

“ ** _STOP! BOTH OF YOU! THE ROD IS GONE!_ **”

They both stop and realize that the rod has indeed disappeared. Eve and Varia look at each other; Eve with regret and sorrow, and Varia with hatred.

Erastus looks at his daughter’s body with fear and despair. 

***

“ **_W-what?!_ **”

“Oh, you didn’t tell her?”, Hel asks, and she nests in her throne. “Uh… this will be harsh”

“Didn’t tell me **_what?_ **”, Gabrielle asks, nervous. “What are you saying, Iris?”

Iris faces her. She has a weak smile, and seems sad and happy at the same time. 

“Remember the first time I saw you, Gabrielle?”, she speaks. “How scared I got? It was because I had seen you before, in one of my visions. You see, the first vision that we, Oracles of Delphi, ever have is of our own death. This is my destiny, Gabrielle, and you can’t stop it. One soul for one soul”

Gabrielle is shaken by the news. She doesn’t know what to say, she’s in awe. 

When she finally finds her voice, she asks:

“Is that… is that written in the spell?”

“Yes. Always has been. It’s the only way”

“But… but Erastus, your father…”

“My father comprehends the meaning of destiny. Yes, he’ll miss me… But we all serve a higher purpose on our own way, even if the future seems dark”

Gabrielle is too surprised. She can’t find words. 

“I had time to grow and mature”, Pythia continues. “From when I had the vision of my own death, of this moment… to now. I accepted my fate, I embraced it. And I know that I’m doing what is right”

“What is **_right?_ ** ”, Gabrielle asks. “You’re… **_the Oracle of Delphi_ **, people rely on you…”

“And that is why it needs to be me”, Iris says. “Hel wouldn’t accept someone… let me try to put it this way… **_ordinary_** ”

Hel points at Iris and says: “True”

Gabrielle sighs and finds herself out of breath. Her eyes are watering with the pain she’s feeling. 

“This can’t be…”, she feels regret, so much regret, and begins to cry. But she slowly starts to fade… her hands become transparent and weak, as if she’s a ghost. She looks at her own hands. 

“The ritual is wearing out”, Iris tells her. “You’ll come back, Gabrielle”

“ ** _No!_ **Iris!!! Had I known you’d sacrifice yourself, I’d never do this!”, Gabrielle screams. 

“I know. Which is why I never told you”, she smiles at her. “Now go and save the world, Gabrielle”

“Bye, Gabrielle!”, Hel waves at her with a smile. 

Gabrielle screams a heavy, throat wrecking “ ** _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_ **”, and disappears from Helheim. 

***

Gabrielle wakes up and sits down, panting, crying, with her eyes open, desperate; she looks around and sees that Erastus is trying to soothe her, and so is Petra. Eve is looking at her, Varia too; and she looks to the side and sees that Pythia’s body is no longer there. 

She looks at Erastus, on her side, with wet eyes.

“Erastus…”, she says and begins crying.

“I know, my child…”, he tells her with sorrow himself, a weak smile, and tears on his own eyes. “I know…”, and he hugs her. 

“ ** _What is happening here?!_ **”, Gabrielle stands up and looks around, seeing the chaos that is taking over the tribe - but slowly the amazons are winning as the men run away. 

“Giles’ men attacked”, Eve says. “But they’re backing out now, it seems”

Gabrielle spots some men coming in their directions with their swords up, and she reaches for the chakram in her waist, **_but it is not there_ **. She looks at her waist.

But then, something hits those men and they fall down, dead. It’s the chakram. 

The chakram is flying around and has been thrown by someone. 

Everyone accompanies its trajectory back to the hand of the thrower…

And **_Xena_ ** catches it majestically. She’s standing there, some meters away from them. 

She’s back in all her GLORY. She’s alive. Her gaze meets with Gabrielle and she smiles. 

Gabrielle smiles back as everyone looks at Xena in awe. 

**THE END.**

**END OF SCENE.**

_Extra scene after the credits_ :

 **_Hel_ **appears inside a cloud of smoke, the goddess of the underworld of the norse. We can’t see where she is, but it seems she’s inside a tent; she’s looking at us. 

“Gabrielle, nice to see you again”, she says. “Your friend Oracle had one more vision and it is **_crucial_ ** that I share it with you”

 **The end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it!  
> Many wishes of love from yours truly!


End file.
